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1894-1904 


44  Every  union  should  have  a  rifle  club.  I  strongly 
advise  you  to  provide  every  member  with  the 
latest  improved  rifle,  which  can  be  obtained  from 
the  factory  at  a  nominal  price.  I  entreat  you  to 
take  action  on  this  important  question,  so  that 
in  two  years  we  can  hear  the  inspiring  music  of 
the  martial  tread  of  25,000  armed  men  in  the 
ranks  of  labor." 

— From  a  speech  by  the  President  of  the  Western  Federation 
of  Miners,  at  Salt  Lake  City. 


"I  find  that  the  disturbances  at  Cripple  Creek 
and  Telluride  amounted  to  insurrection  against 
the  State  of  Colorado,  in  that  mining,  milling, 
and  other  business  was  suspended  there  by  rea- 
son of  intimidation,  threats  of  violence,  and  that 
the  civil  officers  were  not  able  to  or  did  not  main- 
tain order." 

—From  report  of  Major-General  J.  C.  £.=  %iAfr  the  Chief  of  Staff. 


COMPILED  BY 

THE  COLORADO  MINE  OPERATORS'  ASSOCIATION 
COLORADO  SPRINGS,  COLORADO 


CCEUR  D'ALENE  TO  CRIPPLE  CREEK 


TO  HE  Y0ID5 


The  Colorado  Situation  Discussed 
and  Misstatements  Refuted 


SUPREME  COURT  DECISION 


TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  COLORADO: 

There  is  a  prevalent  idea  in  this  country  that  the  proprieties  which 
pertain  to  the  higher  executive  offices  should  deter  their  incumbents  from 
engaging  in  any  controversial  discussion  of  their  policy  or  action,  limit- 
ing the  executive  functions  in  that  regard  to  the  messages  that  from  time 
to  time  are  made  to  the  legislature. 

I  would  not  at  this  time  depart  from  the  observance  of  the  rule  of 
silence  I  have  hitherto  followed  did  I  not  believe  that  recent  events  render 
such  departure  a  duty  to  my  state.  The  unhappy  conditions  which  have 
existed,  and  to  a  degree  still  exist,  in  three  out  of  fifty-nine  counties  of  the 
state  have  been  made  the  pretext  for  the  most  wanton  and  false  representa- 
tions of  the  conditions  in  the  state  at  large. 

Certain  newspapers  of  the  state  of  wide  circulation  and  influence, 
which  have  never  been  distinguished  either  for  support  of  conservative 
policies,  or  for  condemning  the  excesses  of  the  one  organization  which  has 
caused  our  trouble,  have  given  these  misrepresentations  the  widest  pub- 
licity. 

Many  of  the  people  of  our  sister  states,  with  faint  notions  of  the 
truth,  have  been  led  to  believe  that  Colorado  is  in  a  state  of  anarchy,  ruled 
by  abandoned  public  officials,  who  have  rendered  life  and  liberty  unsafe. 

This  picture  has  been  drawn  by  certain  citizens  of  our  own  state, 
who,  for  selfish  purposes,  which  are  apparent,  seek  to  tarnish  the  fair 
name  of  a  great  and  prosperous  commonwealth. 

If  the  public  press  is  to  be  credited,  the  delegation  from  this  state 
to  the  recent  St.  Louis  convention  pictured  before  the  representatives  of 
every  state  in  the  Union  the  woe  and  desolation  and  degradation,  the  law- 
lessness and  hopelessness  of  their  own  state. 

Colorado  deserves  a  better  fate  at  the  hands  of  her  sons. 

And  again  it  has  become  the  settled  policy  of  those  who  hope  to  gain 
political  advantage  through  the  misfortunes  of  the  people  of  a  few  locali- 
ties to  inaugurate,  by  daily  pronouncements,  a  campaign  of  hatred,  and  to 
lead  that  large  law-abiding  and  liberty-loving  body  of  our  citizens  who 
belong  to  labor  unions  to  believe  that  I  have  been,  and  still  am,  engaged 
in  waging  a  war  against  all  union  labor.  Nothing  could  be  farther  from 
my  policy  or  my  desire. 


The  considerations  above  stated,  and  many  others,  lead  me  to  believe 
that  it  is  fitting  and  proper  for  me  to  present  to  the  people  of  this  state, 
and  to  the  public  generally,  a  review,  as  brief  as  is  consistent  with  a  proper 
understanding,  of  the  causes  that  led  up  to  the  labor  troubles  with  which 
I  have  had  to  deal,  and  of  the  reasons  for  the  policy  which  has  been 
pursued. 

EFFORTS  TO  SETTLE  THE  STRIKE. 

Very  soon  after  I  assumed  office,  and  on  the  14th  of  February,  a 
strike  was  declared  at  the  ore  reduction  mills  at  Colorado  City,  in  El  Paso 
county,  by  the  Colorado  City  Mill  and  Smelters  Union — a  branch  of  the 
Western  Federation  of  Miners.  On  the  night  of  February  14  a  large 
number  of  strikers  proceeded  to  one  of  the  mills,  and,  by  show  of  force 
and  threats,  drove  the  workmen  who  had  refused  to  strike  from  their 
labor.  The  strikers  established  pickets.  Employes  of  the  mills  were 
assaulted  and  conditions  gradually  grew  worse,  until,  on  March  3  follow- 
ing, the  sheriff  of  the  county  petitioned  me  to  send  the  militia,  stating 
that  he  was  unable  to  preserve  the  peace  and  protect  life  and  property.  A 
petition  to  the  same  effect  was  also  presented  at  or  about  the  same  time, 
signed  by  a  very  large  number  of  the  most  conservative,  well  known  and 
highly  respected  residents  of  El  Paso  county,  urging  that  I  send  the 
militia  without  delay.  This  representation  of  conditions  and  knowledge 
gained  from  other  sources  impelled  me  to  order  out  a  detachment  of  the 
National  Guard  for  service  at  and  about  the  mills.  The  strike  continued, 
but  the  militia  preserved  order.  The  mills  continued  to  operate.  The 
statements  made  by  the  opposing  sides  were  greatly  at  variance,  and,  in 
order  to  ascertain  the  truth  and  allay  public  excitement,  on  the  19th  day 
of  March,  1903,  I  requested  five  gentlemen  of  acknowledged  standing  in 
the  state — Professor  W.  F.  Slocum,  Judge  Charles  D.  Hayt,  Rev.  Thomas 
Uzzell,  Father  J.  P.  Corrigan  and  Hon.  Frank  W.  Frewen,  a  member  of  the 
legislature  of  the  state,  and  also  at  that  time  a  member  of  the  Western 
Federation  of  Miners — to  act  as  a  commission  to  investigate  and  report  to 
me  the  causes  of  the  trouble  and  to  seek,  if  possible,  a  friendly  settlement. 
This  body  was  known  as  The  Governor's  Commission.  Dr.  Slocum  was 
unable  to  serve,  but  the  remaining  members  acted,  and  both  sides  volun- 
tarily appeared  before  them  and  produced  a  mass  of  evidence. 

As  a  result  of  this  commission's  labors — on  March  31,  1903 — the 
officials  of  the  mill  appeared  before  the  commission  and  made  certain 
promises  as  to  what  their  course  would  be  if  the  strike  were  declared  off. 
The  president  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  who  was  present, 
expressed  doubt  as  to  the  good  faith  of  the  promises  made,  but  stated 
that  he  would  call  off  the  strike,  and  would  ask  the  commission  to  reassem- 
ble on  May  18  following,  for  the  purpose  of  determining  whether  or  not 
the  representatives  of  the  milling  company  had  kept  the  promises  made. 

The  strike  was  declared  off.  On  May  18  the  Federation  insisted  that 
the  promises  made,  as  I  have  stated,  had  not  been  kept. 

The  commission  reassembled.  The  statements  of  the  Federation  and 
of  the  mill  management  were  presented.  The  commission  unanimously 
reported  to  me  that  the  promises  had  all  been  fulfilled,  closing  as  follows: 

''Your  advisory  board  is  of  the  opinion  that  Manager  MacNeill  has 
used  all  possible  efforts  to  re-employ  the  striking  mill  men  in  accordance 
with  his  assurances  made  before  said  board." 

Notwithstanding  this  report,  a  strike  was  again  declared  against  the 
mills.  It  was  ineffectual,  and  thereupon  a  sympathetic  strike  was  declared 
by  the  Federation  in  Cripple  Creek  to  cut  off  the  ore  supply  of  the  mills. 
The  president  of  the  Federation  stated  before  said  commission  that  no 
grievance  existed  against  the  mine  owners. 

It  has  been  contended,  and  apparently  generally  believed,  that  this 
strike  was  called  because  of  the  failure  of  the  legislature  to  enact  an  eight- 
hour  law. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  strike  at  Colorado  City  was  called  on  the  14th 
of  February,  some  five  or  six  weeks  before  the  adjournment  of  the  legis- 


lature,  which  then  had  under  consideration  an  eight-hour  law,  and  at  a 
time  when  every  indication  pointed  to  the  enactment  thereof. 

The  Standard  mill,  at  which  the  strike  occurred,  had  been  an  eight- 
hour  plant  for  five  years,  working  the  eight-hour  day  in  every  department 
save  one,  and  that  one  employing  but  a  small  proportion  of  its  men.  In 
his  testimony  before  the  governor's  commission  above  referred  to,  Mr. 
Moyer,  president  of  the  Federation,  in  response  to  the  direct  question  as 
to  whether  or  not  he  had  any  complaint  to  make  as  to  the  hours  of  labor, 
replied,  "None  whatever." 

So  far  as  the  Cripple  Creek  district  is  concerned,  the  mine  workers 
have  worked  a  maximum  of  eight  hours  per  day  for  over  ten  years,  and  out 
of  this  time  one-half  hour  is  allowed  for  luncheon,  receiving  the  union 
scale  of  wages,  which  is  a,  minimum  of  $8.00  and  an  average  of  nearly  $4.00 
per  day. 

In  response  to  the  call  for  a  strike  in  the  Cripple  Creek  district 
some  four  thousand  men  discontinued  work  and  every  mine  except  one 
was  effectually  closed.  The  sheriff  and  nearly  every  peace  officer  of  the 
county  were  members  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  and  owed 
their  positions  to  the  votes  and  influence  of  that  organization.  Almost 
immediately  after  the  calling  of  the  strike  the  mine  owners  decided  to 
open  their  mines  as  rapidly  as  possible.  One  property  was  opened  under 
heavy  private  guard.  Early  in  September,  however,  an  effort  was  made 
to  bring  about  the  general  opening  of  the  mines  of  the  district.  As  soon 
as  this  was  done  picketing  and  intimidation  and  murderous  assaults  were 
resorted  to. 
,  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ORGANIZATION. 

I  well  knew  the  history  and  character  of  this  organization.  It  is, 
in  fact,  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  in  Colorado  that  for  ten  years 
this  Federation  has  stopped  at  nothing  to  accomplish  its  purpose — 
threats,  intimidation,  assaults,  dynamite  outrages,  murders,  have  every- 
where characterized  its  policy.  It  has  been  the  occasion  of  more  trouble 
and  expense  to  the  state  than  all  other  causes  combined,  including  Indian 
raids.  It  has  never  had  a  strike  that  has  not  been  bloody.  The  catalogue 
of  its  crimes  affrights  humanity.  In  times  of  strike  its  action  has 
amounted  to  open  insurrection  against  the  state.  The  leaders  of  this 
organization  have  instilled  into  the  minds  of  its  membership  the  neces- 
sity of  arming  themselves  for  the  purpose  of  resisting  constituted  authori- 
ties. In  his  speech  delivered  in  Salt  Lake  City  in  1897,  Mr.  Boyce,  then 
president  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  and  the  man  who  organ- 
ized the  Colorado  branch  of  this  organization,  said: 

"I  deem  it  important  to  direct  your  attention  to  article  2  of 
the  constitutional  amendments  of  the  United  States — 'the  right 
of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not  be  infringed.'  This 
you  should  comply  with  immediately.  Every  union  should  have 
a  rifle  club.  I  strongly  advise  you  to  provide  every  member  with 
the  latest  improved  rifle,  which  can  be  obtained  from  the  factory 
at  a  nominal  price.  I  entreat  you  to  take  action  on  this  import- 
ant question,  so  that  in  two  years  we  can  hear  the  inspiring 
music  of  the  martial  tread  of  25,000  armed  men  in  the  ranks  of 
labor." 

The  utterance  is  in  line  with  advice  repeated  and  reiterated  by  other 
leaders  of  the  organization. 

Nor  have  these  words  been  sterile  of  fruit.  In  every  strike  inau- 
gurated by  this  union  in  the  state  of  Colorado  has  been  followed  the  pre- 
cedent set  in  Idaho  in  1899,  when  a  thousand  men  armed  themselves  with 
rifles,  pillaged  boldly  from  the  state  armory,  and  openly  proceeded  to  take 
life  and  destroy  property  by  dynamiting  the  Bunker  Hill  and  Sullivan 
mill. 

In  1894,  Federation  members,  armed  to  the  teeth,  entrenched  and 
picketed,  and  with  precise  military  organization,  defiantly  held  prisoners 
for  exchange  on  Bull  Hill,  in  Cripple  Creek. 


In  1896,  Federation  members  killed  in  open  conflict,  on  the  streets  of 
Leadville,  citizens  of  Lake  county,  and  did  these  murders  with  rifles 
bought  and  paid  for  by  the  local  executive  committee  of  the  Federation. 

In  San  Miguel  county,  Vincent  St.  John,  president  of  the  local  union 
of  the  Western  Federation,  bought  and  paid  for  250  rifles,  with 
which  he  armed  his  Federation  followers,  and  these  guns  were  used  in 
broad  daylight  on  non-union  miners  at  the  Smuggler-Union  mine  in  one 
of  the  most  inhuman  and  barbarous  crimes  ever  committed  in  the  name 
of  any  cause. 

In  Lake  City,  in  1898,  again  these  lawless  men  stole  rifles  from  the 
state  armory,  and  were  prepared  to  use  them  to  uphold  their  demands; 
and,  finally,  OUT  OF  THE  UNION  HALL  AT  VICTOR  THERE  SUR- 
RENDERED ON  JUNE  6  OF  THIS  YEAR,  SIXTY-TWO  MEMBERS  OF 
THE  WESTERN  FEDERATION  OF  MINERS,  BEARING  AMONG  THEM 
35  RIFLES,  32  REVOLVERS  AND  9  SHOTGUNS,  WHICH  WERE  STILL 
HOT  WITH  SHOTS  FIRED  AT  CITIZENS  AND  AT  THE  UNIFORMED 
MILITIA  OF  THE  STATE. 

This  record  convinced  me  that  the  overt  acts  which  had  been  com- 
mitted in  Cripple  Creek  were  but  forerunners  of  others,  and  that  with  the 
executive  officers  of  Teller  county  in  direct  collusion  with  this  organization 
it  would  be  but  a  few  days  until  a  reign  of  terror,  involving  loss  of  life 
and  property,  would  be  established  in  that  district  The  Federation  is 
led  and  absolutely  controlled  by  unscrupulous  men.  Only  two  of  the  ex- 
ecutive committee  are  residents  of  the  state,  and  none  of  the  committee 
has  anything  in  common  with  the  state's  interests. 

The  character  and  history  of  this  Federation  must  be  held  constantly 
in  view  in  determining  whether  or  not  the  policy  I  have  pursued  is  wise 
and  proper.  There  is  no  other  organization  with  such  a  character  and 
such  a  history  in  the  United  States.  I  knew  and  realized  this  when  the 
strike  was  inaugurated  in  Cripple  Creek.  I  was  requested  by  representa- 
tives of  the  mine  operators,  representative  citizens  of  the  district  and  the 
mayor  of  Victor  to  send  the  troops  to  the  Cripple  Creek  district. 

Before  responding  to  this  demand,  however,  I  sent  a  commission  com- 
posed of  Hon.  N.  C.  Miller,  attorney-general  of  the  state,  General  John 
Chase,  who  at  that  time  commanded  the  military  of  the  state,  and  Hon. 
T.  E.  McClellan,  ex-United  States  prosecuting  attorney,  that  they  might 
investigate  the  conditions  in  person  and  report  to  me.  In  response  to 
the  recommendation  of  this  commission  troops  were  ordered  to  the 
Cripple  Creek  district  on  September  4,  the  commission  having  convinced 
me  that  only  in  this  manner  could  the  peace  and  quiet  of  Teller  county 
be  maintained  and  men  protected  in  their  right  to  follow  their  usual 
vocation. 

DUTY  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE. 

There  is  no  higher  duty  devolving  upon  the  executive  of  any  state 
than  affording  protection  to  men  who  desire  to  labor.  In  affording  that 
protection  it  later  became  necessary,  in  my  judgment,  to  confine  certain 
men  in  military  guard  houses  as  one  of  the  safest  and  most  expeditious 
methods  of  restoring  order.  It  was  loudly  proclaimed  that  this  was  with- 
out authority  of  law.  The  question  was  submitted  to  the  supreme  court 
and  the  action  of  the  military  in  that  respect  fully  sustained.  The  law- 
abiding  citizens  of  the  state  need  not  be  alarmed  by  the  frenzied  cry  that 
they  are  all  in  danger  of  incarceration  if  the  governor  has  such  power. 
It  is  a  useful  and  a  necessary  power  and  the  class  that  should  dread  its 
exercise  is  not  numerous.  In  this  regard  I  pursued  the  course  which 
seemed  wisest  and  best,  and  I  can  not  seek  higher  authority  for  its  le- 
gality than  the  supreme  court. 

There  may  have  been  occasional  indiscretions  of  officers  or  men,  as  is 
inevitable  with  a  large  body  not  accustomed  to  such  service — but  whenever 
such  instances  have  been  brought  to  my  attention  they  have  been  promptly 
and  properly  dealt  with,  and.  the  national  guard  of  the  state  has  been 
maintained  on  a  high  standard. 


The  troops  were  in  the  Cripple  Creek  district  from  September  4,  1903, 
to  the  llth  day  of  April,  1904,  in  diminishing  numbers,  as  conditions  per- 
mitted. The  general  policy  pursued  in  Cripple  Creek  was  followed  in 
other  parts  of  the  state,  and  particularly  in  Telluride,  where  the  excesses 
and  crimes  of  the  Federation  had  been  still  more  inhuman  than  in  any 
other  district  and  the  reign  of  terror  still  more  complete.  Order  now 
prevails  there,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  people  of  that  district  may  at 
last  enjoy  peace  and  quiet. 

The  trouble  in  the  Cripple  Creek  district  had  apparently  subsided. 
The  last  of  the  troops  were  withdrawn,  as  I  have  stated,  on  the  llth  day 
of  April,  1904.  The  mines  were  all  being  operated  with  a  full  quota  of 
men  who  were  not  affiliated  with  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  save 
only  the  Portland  mine,  where  many  Federation  members  were  employed. 
The  lawlessness  which  has  everywhere  characterized  the  methods  of  that 
Federation  seejned  for  a  time  to  have  been  abandoned  by  it.  The  district 
apparently  was  destined  to  enjoy  a  period  of  peace.  But  it  proved  to  be 
only  the  calm  before  the  storm. 

THE  CRIME  OF  JUNE  6. 

At  about  3  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  June  6,  a  mine  of  dynamite  was 
exploded  by  means  of  an  infernal  machine,  placed  underneath  the  station 
platform  at  Independence,  and  thirteen  men  were  instantly  blown  to  frag- 
ments and  many  others  mutilated  and  maimed  for  life.  All  these  men 
were  non-union  miners,  about  to  board  a  train  for  their  homes  in  the 
district. 

The  infamous  outrage,  following,  as  it  did,  years  of  intimidation, 
threats,  countless  assaults  and  murders,  was  the  last  of  the  series  which 
had  caused  a  veritable  reign  of  terror  in  that  mining  district.  The  citi- 
zens of  the  county,  inexpressibly  shocked  at  this  wholesale  murder  of 
innocent  men,  determined  that  the  community  must  be  rid  of  the  authors 
and  instigators  of  such  crimes. 

A  public  meeting  was  held  in  Victor  the  afternoon  following  the 
Independence  outrage,  and  while  the  meeting  was  being  addressed,  the 
crowd  was  fired  upon  from  the  Federation  store  and  union  hall.  Two  non- 
union miners  were  shot  and  killed,  and  six  others  wounded.  The  local 
troops  were  called  out  the  same  evening,  at  the  request  of  the  mayor  of 
Victor,  to  prevent  the  excesses  that  seemed  inevitable. 

When  the  excitement  had  subsided  somewhat  and  the  county  was 
still  under  quasi  military  rule,  it  was  found  that  there  were  several  hun- 
dred members  of  the  Western  Federation  in  the  district  who  would  not 
work,  and  had  resolved  that  others  should  not  if,  by  such  methods  as  those 
employed  at  the  Independence  station,  they  could  be  driven  or  frightened 
away. 

It  became  apparent  that  even  with  every  member  of  the  national 
guard  in  that  county  it  would  be  impossible  to  prevent  the  use  of  dynamite 
in  the  stealthy  manner  always  employed  by  the  Federation.  The  moun- 
tains and  gulches  of  that  rugged  country  afford  a  multitude  of  safe  places 
for  reconnoitre  and  hiding.  The  troops,  which  had  already  been  there  a 
greater  part  of  the  year,  could  not  be  maintained  indefinitely  without  in- 
curring immense  additional  expense.  The  only  safe  and  available  remedy 
seemed  to  be  to  disperse  the  radical  members.  If  all  of  them  had  not  per- 
sonally participated  in  the  outrages,  they  had  at  least  stood  approvingly 
by  and  given  their  support,  encouragement  and  protection. 

If  these  men  were  scattered,  the  avenues  which  ten  years  of  organi- 
zation and  association  had  opened  for  crime  in  that  district  would  be 
closed.  It  would  require  much  time  in  any  other  community  before  they 
could  gather  about  them  a  new  band  of  conspirators  with  the  inclination 
and  daring  to  inaugurate  in  a  new  field  another  condition  of  terrorism. 
These  men,  as  I  have  said,  had  determined  never  to  yield  the  strike.  The 
mine  owners  had  resolved  not  to  employ  again  the  members  of  that  organ- 
ization. Therefore,  the  only  employment  which  remained  for  them  was 


that  of  stirring  up  strife — committing  depredations  and  intimidating  by 
inhuman  crimes  the  working  miners. 

I  resolved  that  they  should  be  dispersed  and  I  dispersed  them.* 
This  was  done,  however,  only  after  careful  investigation  of  each  indi- 
ridual  case. 

I  hope  and  believe  that  these  men  so  sent  from  the  district  will, 
when  released  from  the  evil  influences  of  a  criminal  leadership,  return  to 
lawful  living  and  resolve  that  a  recognition  of  the  rights  which  the  laws 
confer  is  the  proper  guide  for  conduct. 

NO  WAR  ON   UNIONS. 

From  what  I  have  said  and  from  what  is  within  the  knowledge  of 
every  citizen  of  the  state  it  will  be  seen  that  disturbances  have  been 
limited  to  the  mining  and  allied  industries.  It  has  been  charged  repeat- 
edly that  the  militia  has  been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  mine  owners 
to  oppress  labor.  The  injustice  of  the  charge  is  apparent,  but  it  will 
doubtless  continue  to  be  made. 

The  militia  was  employed  to  restore  order  and  to  protect  labor  and 
property  in  the  rights  to  which  each  is  entitled  under  the  law. 

The  militia  opposed  the  wishes  and  purposes  of  the  Federation  be- 
cause that  organization  was  attempting  to  prevent,  by  violence,  the  opera- 
tion of  the  mines  and  mills.  It  is  again  charged  that  I  have  been  engaged 
in  a  war  upon  unions  generally,  and  strenuous  and  repeated  efforts  are 
being  made  to  play  upon  the  passions  of  union  men.  /  do  not  believe  the 
efforts  will  be  successful.  I  do  not  believe  the  conservative  union  men  of 
the  state  will  feel  called  upon  to  adopt  the  policy  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Federation,  nor  can  I  believe  they  will  sanction  it.  I  believe  they  will  be 
able  to  discriminate  between  their  own  unions  and  principles,  and  the 
socialistic,  anarchistic  objects  and  methods  of  the  Federation.  IN  THE 
TEN  YEARS  OF  ITS  EXISTENCE  THE  WESTERN  FEDERATION  OF 
MINERS  HAS  INVOLVED  THE  STATE  IN  A  CASH  OUTLAY  FOR 
THE  MILITIA  OF  MORE  THAN  $2,000,000. 

I  propose  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  to  "see  to  it  that  the  laws  are 
faithfully  executed,"  and  in  the  accomplishment  of  that  purpose  I  shall  not 
inquire  whether  the  individual  entitled  to  protection  is,  or  is  not,  a  mem- 
ber of  any  labor  organization.  No  one  can  appreciate  more  than  I,  not  only 
the  right  and  wisdom  of  laboring  men  to  join  together  for  the  purpose 
of  bettering  their  wages  and  working  conditions,  and  no  one  can  believe 
more  heartily  than  I  in  a  fair  wage  and  reasonable  hours.  It  will  be  a 
matter  of  great  regret  to  me  if  the  laboring  men  of  this  state  fail  to  see 
that  I  am  fighting  their  battle,  for  I  sincerely  believe  that  organized  labor 
has  no  more  dangerous  enemy  than  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners, 
which  is  seeking,  under  the  cloak  of  organized  labor,  to  protect  itself  alike 
in  the  promulgation  of  its  dishonest  socialistic  theories,  which  recognize 
no  right  to  private  property,  and  from  the  result  of  its  anarchistic  tenets 
and  tendencies.  Legitimate  labor  organizations  of  necessity  suffer  from 
the  criminal  aggressions  of  the  Federation.  ITS  CLAIM  TO  THE  CHAR- 
ACTER OF  A  LABOR  ORGANIZATION  IS  ITS  ONLY  TITLE  TO 
RESPECTABILITY.  I  BELIEVE  THAT  NO  GREATER  GOOD  CAN 
BE  CONFERRED  UPON  THE  CAUSE  OF  UNION  LABOR,  STRIVING 
TO  BETTER  THE  CONDITION  OF  ITS  MEMBERS,  THAN  THAT  THE 
MEMBERS  OF  SUCH  LEGITIMATE  LABOR  UNIONS  CONDEMN  THE 
METHODS  OF  THE  FEDERATION. 

Those  who  are  charged  with  the  duty  of  seeing  that  the  lives  and 
property  of  citizens  are  respected  have  difficult  and  perplexing  problems 
to  solve  in  times  of  insurrection  and  great  public  stress. 

I  have  had  to  deal  with  an  organization  which  has  no  counterpart  in 
this  country.  Its  official  proclamations,  full  of  defiance  and  challenge, 

*About  200  were  sent  away  from  Teller  county,  and  100  from  San 
Miguel  county,  Colorado. 


issued  from  time  to  time,  have  amounted,  as  has  been  said,  to  "a  declara- 
tion of  war  against  the  state." 

I  HAVE  MET  THE  CHALLENGE  WITH  A  POLICY  NONE  TOO 
VIGOROUS  FOR  THE  OUTLAWRY  I  WAS  CALLED  TO  OPPOSE.  BUT 
THROUGH  IT  ALL  I  HAVE  HAD  BUT  ONE  OBJECT,  AND  THAT  TO 
SHOW  THE  PEOPLE  OF  COLORADO  THAT  THE  LAWS  WILL  BE 
UPHELD—  THAT  A  CRIMINAL  ORGANIZATION  CAN  NOT  DICTATE 
THE  POLICY  OF  THIS  ADMINISTRATION,  AND  THAT  EVERY- 
WHERE WITHIN  THE  BORDERS  OF  COLORADO,  PROPERTY  SHALL 
BE  SECURE  AND  LABOR  FREE. 

JAMES   H.   PEABODY, 

Gorernor. 


THE  MOVER  CASE 


Excerpts  from  the  Colorado  Supreme  Court 

Decision  in  the  Moyer  Habeas 

Corpus  Case,  1904 


"Laws  must  be  given  a  reasonable  construction,  which,  so  far  as  possible, 
will  enable  the  end  thereby  sought  to  be  attained.  So  with  the  Constitution.  It 
must  be  given  that  construction  of  which  it  is  susceptible,  which  will  tend  to  main- 
tain and  preserve  the  government  of  which  it  is  the  foundation,  and  protect  tn« 
citizens  of  the  state  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  inalienable  rights.  In  suppressing 
an  insurrection  it  has  been  many  times  determined  that  the  military  may  resort 
to  extreme  force  as  against  armed  and  riotous  resistance,  even  to  the  extent  of 
taking  the  life  of  the  rioters. 

"Without  such  authority  the  presence  of  the  military  in  a  district  under 
the  control  of  the  insurrectionists  would  be  a  mere  idle  parade,  unable  to  accom- 
plish anything  in  the  way  of  restoring  order  or  suppressing  riotous  conduct. 

"If,  then,  the  military  may  resort  to  the  extreme  of  taking  human  life  in 
order  to  suppress  insurrection,  it  is  impossible  to  imagine  upon  what  hypothesis 
it  can  be  successfully  claimed  that  the  milder  means  of  seizing  the  persons  of  those 
participating  in  the  insurrection  or  aiding  and  abetting  it  may  not  be  resorted  to. 
This  is  but  a  lawful  means  to  the  end  to  be  accomplished.  The  power  and  authority 
of  the  militia  in  such  circumstances  are  not  unlike  that  of  the  police  of  a  city, 
or  the  sheriff  of  a  county,  aided  by  his  deputies  of  posse  comitatus  in  suppressing 
a  riot.  Certainly  such  officials  would  be  justified  in  arresting  the  rioters  and 
placing  them  in  jail  without  warrant,  and  detaining  them  there  until  the  riot 
was  suppressed —  Hallett,  J.,  In  re  Application  of  Sherman  Parker.  If,  as  con- 
tended by  counsel  for  petitioner,  the  military,  as  soon  as  a  rioter  or  insurrectionist 
is  arrested,  must  turn  him  over  to  the  civil  authorities  of  the  county,  the  arrest 
might,  and  in  many  instances  wouldf  amount  to  a  mere  farce.  He  could  be  re- 
leased on  bail,  and  left  free  to  again  join  the  rioters  or  engage  in  aiding  and 
abetting  their  action,  and  if  again  arrested,  the  same  process  would  have  to  be 
repeated,  and  thus  the  action  of  the  military  would  be  rendered  a  nullity.  Again, 
if  it  be  conceded  that  on  the  arrest  of  a  rioter  by  the  military  he  must  at  once 
be  turned  over  to  the  custody  of  the  civil  officers  of  the  county,  then  the  military, 
in  seizing  armed  insurrectionists  and  depriving  mem  of  their  arms,  would  be  re- 
quired to  forthwith  return  them  to  the  hands  of  those  who  were  employing  them 
in  acts  of  violence,  or  be  subject  to  an  action  of  replevin  for  their  recovery, 
whereby  immediate  possession  of  such  arms  would  be  obtained  by  the  rioters,  who 
would  thus  again  be  equipped  to  continue  their  lawless  conduct. 

"To  deny  the  right  of  the  militia  to  detain^  those  whom  they  arrest  while 
engaged  in  suppressing  acts  of  violence  and  until  order  is  restored,  would  lead 
to  the  most  absurd  results. 


"The  arrest  and  detention  of  an  insurrectionist,  either  actually  engaged  in 
acts  of  violence  or  in  aiding  and  abetting  others  to  commit  such  acts,  violates 
none  of  his  constitutional  rights.  He  is  not  tried  l>y  any  military  court,  or  denied 
the  right  of  trial  by  jury;  neither  is  he  punished  for  violation  of  the  law,  nor 
held  without  due  process  of  law.  His  arrest  and  detention  in  such  circumstances 
are  merely  to  prevent  him  from  taking  part  or  aiding  in  a  continuation  of  the 
conditions  which  the  governor,  in  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties  and  in  the 
exercise  of  the  authority  conferred  by  law,  is  endeavoring  to  suppress.  When 
this  end  is  reached,  he  could  no  longer  be  restrained  of  his  liberty  by  the  military, 
but  must  be,  just  as  respondents  have  indicated  in  their  return  to  the  writ, 
turned  over  to  the  usual  civil  authorities  of  the  county,  to  be  dealt  with  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  justice,  and  tried  for  such  offense  against  the  law  as  he  may 
.  have  committed.  It  is  true  that  the  petitioner  is  not  held  by  virtue  of  any 
warrant,  but  if  his  arrest  and  detention  are  authorized  by  law,  he  can  not  com- 
plain because  those  steps  have  not  been  taken  which  are  ordinarily  required  before 
a  citizen  can  be  arrested  and  detained. 

"Nor  do  those  views  conflict  with  section  22  of  the  Bill  of  Rights,  which 
provides  that  the  military  shall  always  be  in  strict  subordination  to  the  civil  power. 

"The  governor,  in  employing  the  militia  to  suppress  an  insurrection,  is  merely 
acting  in  his  capacity  as  the  chief  civil  magistrate  of  the  state,  and  although 
exercising  bis  authority  conferred  by  the  law  through  the  aid  of  the  military 
under  his  command,  he  is  but  acting  in  a  civil  capacity.  In  other  words,  he  is 
exercising  the  civil  power  vested  in  him  by  law  through  a  particular  means  which 
the  state  has  provided  for  the  protection  of  its  citizens.  No  case  has  been  cited 
where  the  precise  question  under  consideration  was  directly  involved  and  deter- 
mined, but  in  cases  where  the  courts  have  had  occasion  to  speak  of  the  authority 
of  the  military  to  suppress  insurrection  and  the  means  which  may  be  employed 
to  that  end,  it  has  been  stated  that  parties  engaged  in  riotous  conduct  render 
themselves  liable  to  arrest  by  those  engaged  in  quelling  it. 

In  re  Kemp,  16  Wis.,  382  (413). 
Luther  vs.   Borden,   supra. 
Johnson  vs.  Jones,  44  111.,  142. 

"The  same  rule  necessarily  applies  to  those  found  in  the  zone  of  the  dis- 
affected district  who  are  aiding  and  abetting  the  insurrectionists;  for  such  con- 
duct, unless  repressed^  would  result  in  the  continuation  of  the  insurrection,  or, 
at  least,  render  it  more  difficult  to  suppress. 

"We  therefore  reach  the  conclusion  that,  independent  of  the  questions  of  the 
authority  of  the  governor  to  declare  martial  law,  or  suspend  the  privilege  of  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus,  that  the  petitioner,  on  the  showing  made  by  the  return,  is 
not  illegally  restrained  of  his  liberty.  In  reaching  this  conclusion  we  are  not 
unmindful  of  the  argument  that  a  great  power  is  recognized  as  being  lodged  with 
the  chief  executive,  which  might  be  unlawfully  exercised.  That  such  power  may 
be  abused  is  no  good  reason  why  it  should  be  denied.  The  question  simply  is,  does 
It  exist?  If  so,  then  the  governor  can  not  be  deprived  of  its  exercise.  The  prime 
idea  of  government  is  that  power  must  be  lodged  somewhere  for  the  protection  of 
the  commonwealth.  For  this  purpose,  laws  are  enacted  and  the  authority  to  exe- 
cute them  must  exist,  for  they  are  of  no  effect  unless  they  are  enforced.  Neither 
is  power  of  any  avail  unless  it  is  exercised.  Appeals  of  a  possible  abuse  of  power 
are  often  made  in  public  debate.  They  are  addressed  to  popular  fears  and  preju- 
dices, and  often  given  weight  in  the  public  mind  to  which  they  are  not  entitled. 
Every  government  necessarily  includes  a  grant  of  poiver  lodged  somewhere.  It 
would  be  imbecile  without  it. 

**  ********** 

"The  petitioner  was   lawfully   arrested   by   the  military   authorities  while  the 

work  of  suppressing  the  insurrection  in  San  Miguel  county  was  in  progress.     Such 

arrest   being   lawful,    his    restraint    by    respondents  until    it    is    suppressed    is    not 
Illegal." 


CRIMINAL  RECORD 

OF  THE 

WESTERN  FEDERATION 
OF  MINERS 

COEUR  D'ALENE  TO  CRIPPLE  CREEK 


1894-1904 


COMPILED  BY 

THE  COLORADO  MINE  OPERATORS*  ASSOCIATION 

COLORADO  SPRINGS.  COLORADO 


CLIMAX   OF   CRIME  AGAINST    NON-UNION    MEN    WHICH 
RECENTLY   CLOSED   THE   BLOODY  CAREER  OF 
THE  WESTERN  FEDERATION  OF  MINERS 
IN  THE  CRIPPLE  CREEK   DIS- 
TRICT, COLORADO 


KILLED  AND  INJURED  BY  INFERNAL  MACHINE  JUNE  6th,  1904 

ALEX  M'LAIN,  leaves  wife  and  three  children. 

J.  A.  HARTSOCK,  leaves  three  children— 7,  9  and  12  years 

old. 

ED  BOSS,. leaves  wife. 
GUS  AUGUSTINE,  single. 
GEORGE  F.  S.  HENDERSON,  single. 
HERBERT  M'COY,.  leaves  wife  and  two  children. 
GEORGE  KELSO,  leaves  wife. 
ARTHUR  MEILHEISEN,  single. 
W.  W.  DELANO,  leaves  wife. 
J.  H.  JOHNSON,  single. 

JOHN  ST.  CLAIR,  leaves  wife  and  one  child. 
W.  S.  SHANKL1N,  leaves  child  4  years  old,  wife  dead. 
J.  H.  HAAG,  leaves  one  child,  wife  dead. 

INJURED 

PHIL  CHANDLER,  single,  ankle  broken. 

C.  C.  ALLEN,  single,  leg  broken. 

JOHN  POLICE,  both  legs  cut  off,  wife  and  three  children. 

DAN  GAINEY,  single,  one  leg  off,  the  other  broken. 

JAMES  BROOKER,  arm  broken,  has  family. 

ED  HOLLAND,  both  legs  off,  wife  and  three  children. 

KILLED  BY  RIFLE  SHOTS  FROM  FEDERATION  HEADQUARTERS 
SAME  DAY 

JOHN  M.  DAVIS,  single. 
ROXIE  M'GEE,  single. 

KILLED  BY  INFERNAL  MACHINE,  VINDICATOR  MINE 

MEL.  BECK,  left  a  daughter  14  years  old. 
CHARLES  M'CORMICK,  left  wife. 


POSITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  COLORADO 

Neither  the  people  of  Colorado  nor  their  Governor,  James 
H.  Peabody,  hold  organized  labor  responsible  for  the  terrible 
crimes  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners.  Neither  do  they 
contend  that  all  members  of  this  organization  belong  to  the 
vicious  or  lawless  class. 

It  would  be  just  as  unreasonable  to  condemn  the  institu- 
tion known  as  "organized  labor"  for  these  crimes  as  it  would 
be  to  condemn  the  republican  form  of  government  because  of 
the  crimes  of  the  barbarous  little  republics  of  Central  and 
South  America. 

It  was  not  a  question  of  whether  corporations,  mine  own- 
ers, alliances  or  unions  should  prevail,  it  was  a  question  of 
whether  or  not  law  and  security  for  life  and  property  should 
prevail. 

The  people  of  Colorado  believe  that  the  long  record  of  out- 
rage and  crime  given  in  this  pamphlet  justifies  the  following 
conclusions: 


991 


INDICTMENT 


1.  That  a  large  number  of  criminals  and  lawless  men  have  been  wel- 
comed, supported  and  sheltered  by  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners. 

2.  That  the  officers  of  that  organization  and  a  large  number  of  the 
members,  while  perhaps  not  committing  crimes  themselves  for  which  they 
can  be  prosecuted,  do  directly  and  indirectly  advise  or  encourage  the  lawless 
among  them  to  commit  crimes. 

3.  That  these  officers  and  this  element  preach  disrespect  for  the  law 
and  contempt  for  the  lawful  authorities  and  openly  and  publicly,  as  indi- 
viduals, approve  of  and  gloat  over  the  slugging,  dynamiting  and  murdering  of 
non-union  men  by  their  criminal  associates. 

4.  That  where  this  organization  has  had  its  members  in  local  public 
offices,  or  where  it  has  had  the  power  to  influence  peace  officers  and  courts 
in  this  state,  it  has  paralyzed  the  hand  of  justice  and  made  it  next  to  impos- 
sible to  convict  members  of  the  Federation  caught  in  the  act  of  committing 
crimes. 

5.  That  this  organization,  having  formally  and  officially  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  so-called  Socialist  party,  is  opposed  to  our  present  form  of  gov- 
ernment and  is  aiming  at  its  overthrow,  together  with  the  abrogation  of  the 
present  Constitution. 

6.  That  this  organization  teaches  its  members  to  regard  the  wealth 
they  produce  from  the  property  of  others  as  their  own,  thus  encouraging  theft 
(of  ore,  for  instance)  and  also  inflaming  the  minds  of  its  members  against 
their  employers,  against  the  law,  against  organized  society  and  against  the 
peace  and  safety  of  the  public. 


FROM   CCEUR   D'ALENE   TO   CRIPPLE   CREEK- 1894-1904 


The  Western  Federation  of  Miners  was  organized  in  Butte, 
Montana,  on  May  15th,  1893,  at  a  time  when  the  miners'  unions 
were  in  full  control  of  the  Coeur  d'Alene  mining  district,  polit- 
ically and  industrially. 

They  ruled  their  little  kingdom  in  the  most  arbitrary  and 
tyrannous  manner,  committing  outrages  and  murder  without 
the  slightest  fear  of  punishment. 

On  July  llth,  1892,  armed  union  men  dynamited  the  Frisco 
mill  near  Wardner,  destroying  it.  In  the  fight  which  followed 
a  number  of  non-union  men  were  killed.  Seventeen  were 
marched  off  a  dock  into  the  lake.  No  one  was  punished  for  these 
crimes.  Federal  troops  were  finally  brought  in.  Martial  law 
was  in  force  until  November,  1892. 

As  soon  as  the  troops  departed  the  former  condition  of  ter 
rorism  was  resumed.  A  large  number  of  men  who  had  opposed 
the  strike  violence  were,  by  threats  and  abuse,  driven  from  the 
district  by  the  union  men.  One  non-union  man  was  tied  to  a 
hand  car  and  turned  loose  down  a  heavy  railroad  grade.  Out- 
rages against  non-union  men  continued,  and  the  local  authori- 
ties made  practically  no  effort  to  suppress  them. 

THE  WESTERN  FEDERATION  APPEARS. 

These  were  the  conditions  prevailing  in  the  Coeur  d'Alenes 
when  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  was  organized  to  bring 
all  the  various  miners'  unions  of  the  West  under  one  strong 


organization,  to  be  directed  by  one  head.  That  no  hope  for  bet- 
ter things  was  to  be  expected  from  this  organization  was  indi- 
cated by  the  bold  and  warlike  utterances  of  the  leaders  of  the 
movement. 

Peter  Breen,  a  prominent  leader,  in  a  speech  at  Butte  on 
July  llth,  1893,  two  months  after  the  organization  was  started, 
said,  in  substance: 

"We  have  given  the  mine  owners  a  fight  to  the  finish, 
and  if  they  are  not  satisfied  we  can  give  them  some 
more.  This,"  he  said,  "was  the  happiest  moment  of  his 
life,  and  that  he  was  at  all  times  willing  to  be  classed 
as  one  of  the  dynamiters  of  the  Coeur  d'Alene." — (Con- 
gressional Report.) 


DYNAMITE  RULE  IN  THE  COEUR  D'ALENE. 

Here  are  a  few  of  the  more  serious  crimes  of  the  Western 
Federation  of  Miners  in  this  long  terrorized  section  of  Idaho: 

JULY  3,  1894,  JOHN  KNEEBONE  MURDERED.  HAD  BEEN  DRIVEN 
FROM  THE  COUNTRY  AND  RETURNED;  WAS  SHOT  TO  DEATH  IN 
BROAD  DAYLIGHT  BY  FORTY  FEDERATION  MINERS  ARMED  WITH 
RIFLES  AND  SHOTGUNS. 

July  3rd,  1894.  Driven  out.  Superintendent  Neil,  Foreman 
Crumer,  Frank  Higgins  and  Charles  West,  non-union  men,  were 
captured  by  armed  Federation  men  and  forced  to  leave  the  coun- 
try under  threats  of  death.  No  arrests. 

Silver  Star,  organ  of  W.  F.  of  M.,  said  the  unions  could  not 
be  held  responsible  for  the  Kneebone  murder  because  the  Gem 
mine  owners  had  not  discharged  scabs  as  requested  by  the 
unions. 

July  16th,  1894.  Grand  jury  was  summoned  and  reported 
that  witnesses  were  afraid  to  testify  in  Kneebone  case.  To 
oppose  the  Federation  in  this  manner  meant  death,  or  at  least 
a  beating  and  deportation  from  the  district.  Officials  were  in 
sympathy  with  the  criminals  and  conviction  would  be  impos- 
sible. 

July  14th,  1894.  Dynamiting.  An  attempt  was  made  to  blow 
up  the  Bunker  Hill  power  house.  The  bomb  struck  an  obstruc- 
tion before  reaching  the  building  and  did  but  little  damage. 

December  22nd,  1894.  Exiled.  A  number  of  non-union 
men  were  collected  and  driven  out  of  the  country.  No  arrests. 

April  15th,  1895.  J.  J.  Mills  driven  out.  An  armed  band 
of  Federation  men  drove  J.  J.  Mills,  a  non-union  man,  from  the 
Gem  mine,  and  forced  him  to  leave  the  country.  No  arrests. 

June  1st,  1895.  Exiled.  Another  batch  of  non-union  men 
were  driven  from  the  district  by  armed  and  masked  Federation 
men,  who  beat  them  with  guns  and  clubs.  No  arrests. 

October  27th,  1895.  John  Eckland  driven  out.  Non-union 
man,  badly  beaten.  No  one  punished. 

March  10th,  1896.  Dynamiting.  Another  effort  made  to 
blow  up  the  Bunker  Hill  mill.  Plan  miscarried.  Damage  slight. 
No  arrests. 


February  7th,  1897.  John  Kopp  exiled.  Taken  from  his  bed 
and  ordered  to  leave  the  country.  Filed  complaint  against  as- 
sailants, but  was  forcibly  driven  away  before  he  had  a  chance 
to  testify  against  them. 

That  these  murders  and  outrages  upon  the  persons  of  law- 
abiding  citizens  were  in  accord  with  the  policy  of  the  Western 
Federation  of  Miners,  and  met  with  the  approval  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  that  body,  is  shown  by  the  following  from  a  speech  of 
President  Boyce,  delivered  at  Salt  Lake  on  May  8th,  1897: 

"EVERY  UNION  SHOULD  HAVE  A  RIFLE  CLUB.  I  STRONGLY  AD- 
VISE YOU  TO  PROVIDE  EVERY  MEMBER  WITH  THE  LATEST  IM- 
PROVED RIFLE,  WHICH  CAN  BE  OBTAINED  FROM  THE  FACTORY  AT 
A  NOMINAL  PRICE.  I  ENTREAT  YOU  TO  TAKE  ACTION  ON  THIS 
IMPORTANT  QUESTION,  SO  THAT  IN  TWO  YEARS  WE  CAN  HEAR 
THE  INSPIRING  MUSIC  OF  THE  MARTIAL  TREAD  OF  25,000  ARMED 
MEN  IN  THE  RANKS  OF  LABOR." 

This  is  from  the  official  who  organized  the  Western  Federa- 
tion of  Miners  in  Colorado  and  sowed  the  seeds  of  insurrection 
which  have  cost  Colorado  so  much  during  the  past  year. 

May  13,  1897.  Armory  raided.  Five  days  after  this  speech 
of  Mr.  Boyce,  Federation  men  entered  the  building  where  the 
arms  and  ammunition  of  the  state  militia  company  at  Mullan, 
Idaho,  were  stored,  and  forty-six  rifles  and  ten  thousand  car- 
trides  were  taken.  No  arrests.  Some  of  these  guns  were  after- 
ward used  in  the  Federation  riot  at  Wardner. 

April  17,  1897.  Demand  disbanding  of  militia.  County 
Commissioners  of  Shoshone  County  (Federation  sympathizers) 
petitioned  the  Governor  to  disband  the  two  militia  companies 
(mostly  non-union  men)  organized  in  Wardner,  because  they 
were  a  "continual  menace  to  the  peace  and  good  order  of  the 
county." 

During  this  year  (1897)  non-union  men  were  frequently  at- 
tacked, particularly  at  night,  and  many  were  driven  from  the 
country. 

DECEMBER  23,  1897,  F.  D.  WHITNEY  MURDERED.  A  NON-UNION 
FOREMAN  OF  HELENA-FRISCO  MILL,  WHO  HAD  OFFENDED  THE 
WESTERN  FEDERATION  OF  MINERS;  WAS  TAKEN  FROM  HIS  BED 
BY  MASKED  UNION  MEN  AND  BRUTALLY  MURDERED.  NO  ARRESTS. 

January,  1898.  Another  lot  of  non-union  men  were  run  out 
of  the  district  and  others  followed  from  time  to  time,  during 
the  year. 

October  21,  1898.  Dan  Connor  exiled.  Non-union  shift  boss 
at  the  Standard  mine,  forced  to  leave  the  country  for  discharg- 
ing some  union  men. 


The  town  and  county  officials  continue  to  connive  at  the 
crimes  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  and  to  ignore  the 
appeals  of  the  harrassed  citizens  until  after  the  riot  of  April 
29,  1899,  when  they  were  removed  and  impartial  officials  put 
in  their  place. 

REGIMENT  OF  ARMED  FEDERATION  MEN. 

APRIL  29,  1899.  DYNAMITING,  RIOTING,  MURDER.  ONE  THOU- 
SAND FEDERATION  MEN,  MANY- OF  THEM  MASKED,  ARMED  WITH 
RIFLES,  SHOTGUNS  AND  REVOLVERS,  FORCIBLY  TOOK  POSSESSION 
OF  A  TRAIN  AND  WENT  TO  WARDNER.  THEY  CAME  FROM  THE 
TOWNS  OF  WALLACE,  BURKE,  GEM  AND  MULLAN.  THEY  BLEW  UP 
THE  $250,000  MILL  OF  THE  BUNKER  HILL-SULLIVAN  MINING  COM- 
PANY, COMPLETELY  WRECKING  IT.  THEY  CAPTURED  SOME  NON- 
UNION MEN,  BEAT  THEM  OVER  THE  HEAD  WITH  GUNS,  AND  WHEN 
THEY  RAN,  FIRED  INTO  THEM.  TWO  WERE  KILLED— CHEYNE  AND 
SMITH— AND  OTHERS  WERE  WOUNDED.  THE  FEDERATION  SHERIFF 
OF  THE  COUNTY  WAS  WITH  THE  MOB  AND  DID  ABSOLUTELY  NOTH- 
ING TO  PREVENT  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  LIFE  AND  PROPERTY. 
THE  EXCUSE  FOR  THIS  INSURRECTION  WAS  THE  REFUSAL  OF  THE 
OWNERS  OF  THE  DESTROYED  PROPERTY  TO  DISCHARGE  NON- 
UNION MEN. 

The  following  quotations  are  from  the  Idaho  Tribune,  the 

organ  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  edited  by  J.  R. 

Sovereign,   a  prominent  leader,   formerly   at  the  head    of  the 

Knights  of  Labor: 

"The  train  reached  Wardner  at  1  o'clock,  and  the 
work  of  clearing  the. country  of  all  opposition  was  be- 
gun. A  detachment  of  union  miners  armed  with  Win- 
chester rifles  was  dispatched  to  the  mountain  side  be- 
yond the  mill,  and  the  work  of  placing  under  the  mill 
3,000  pounds  of  dynamite  taken  from  the  magazine  of 
the  Frisco  mine  was  commenced.  All  the  details  were 
managed  with  the  discipline  and  precision  of  a  per- 
fectly trained  military  organization.  *  *  *  Sixty 
armed  scabs  in  the  employ  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Com- 
pany offered  the  only  resistance,  and  they  gave  expres- 
sion to  the  most  pitiable  and  lamentable  cowardice. 
Only  a  few  desultory  shots  from  the  miners  were  neces- 
sary to  send  them  fleeing  over  the  mountains.  *  *  * 
All  miners  and  friends  of  the  miners  were  warned  to 
take  a  safe  distance  from  the  work  of  destruction." 
President  Boyce's  advice  had  been  taken.  And  the  organ 

of  the  Federation  approved  of  the  act,  for  it  said : 

"For  its  foolhardy  policy  the  Bunker  Hill  has  suf- 
fered an  immense  loss,  and  no  one  who  understands 
the  real  situation  has  any  sympathy  for  them. 
The  company  will  need   military  protection  for  forty 
years  after  their  new  mill  is  completed." 

9 


From  this  it  is  plain  that  the  organization  not  only  ap- 
proved of  the  destruction  of  the  old  mill,  but  threatened  the 
new  one. 

The  militia  of  Idaho  having  been  sent  to  the  Philippines, 
the  Governor  called  for  Federal  troops.  All  dangerous  char 
acters  and  men  who  were  inciting  riot  were  thrown  in  the  guard 
house  for  safe  keeping  (in  much  the  same  manner  as  they  were 
recently  in  Teller  county,  Colorado).  Those  against  whom  evi- 
dence was  found  indicating  participation  in  crime  were  turned 
over  to  the  civil  authorities,  others  were  held  until  the  reorgan- 
ized civil  government  was  in  full  operation,  and  released.  Mar- 
tial law  continued  for  six  months,  and  a  small  squad  of  soldiers 
was  stationed  near  Wardner  for  about  a  year. 

Mine  and  mill  owners  refused  to  again  employ  any  member 
of  this  murderous  organization,  and  they  were  obliged  to  fol 
low  the  same  trails  out  of  the  country  over  which  they  had  de 
ported  and  beaten  non-union  men. 

Since  that  time  peace,  happiness  and  prosperity  have  reigned 
in  the  Coeur  d'Alenes. 

A  strong  protest  against  the  action  of  the  .President  and 
the  Governor  went  up  from  the  yellow  press  and  from  labor 
and  political  agitators,  because  of  the  alleged  "violation  of  the 
Constitution  and  the  Bill  of  Rights,"  but  Congress  sustained 
the  President,  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  Idaho  sustained  the 
Governor  in  his  acts,  as  the  Supreme  Court  of  Colorado  has 
supported  Governor  Peabody  in  the  Colorado  case. 

The  military  forced  respect  for  the  civil  authorities  and 
brought  security  to  life  and  property,  which  the  civil  author- 
ities failed  to  do  while  under  the  sway  of  the  Western  Federa- 
tion of  Miners. 


10 


ARMED   REBELLION   IN  CRIPPLE   CREEK,  1894- 


About  the  time  the  Cripple  Creek  war  of  1894  started,  the 
miners'  union  of  that  camp  joined  the  Western  Federation  of 
Miners  and  violence  broke  out  in  earnest.  The  strikers  com- 
mitted several  murders,  stole  arms  and  ammunition,  built  a  fort 
on  the  top  of  Bull  Hill,  picketed  the  district  with  armed  men, 
took  citizens  to  their  fort,  where  they  maltreated  them  in  the 
most  inhumane,  indecent  and  brutal  manner,  and  established  a 
genuine  reign  of  terror. 

They  stole  horses  and  formed  a  cavalry  division  which 
patrolled  the  district.  Citizens  were  "held  up,"  searched  and 
deprived  of  their  liberty.  No  one  wras  permitted  to  pass  the 
lines  without  a  permit  from  the  President  of  the  union.  Every 
town  in  the  district  was  in  their  control.  They  broke  into  houses 
and  stores  for  arms  and  supplies,  planted  dynamite  mines  on 
certain  trails,  assaulted  several  citizens  and  forced  a  large  num- . 
ber  to  leave  the  camp.  Some  deputy  sheriffs  and  employers  were 
captured  and  held  for  exchange  as  in  war.  The  lawful  author- 
ities were  entirely  displaced  and  mob  law  reigned  unchecked. 

They  chased  Superintendent  Sam  McDonald,  of  the  Strong 
mine,  and  two  companions  underground  and  dropped  dynamite 
down  the  shaft  to  kill  them.  The  shaft  and  shaft  house  were 
ruined,  but  the  men  below  escaped  injury. 

The  large  body  of  armed  strikers  which  swarmed  around  the 
mine  kept  their  victims  underground  for  thirty-six  hours,  when 
they  permitted  them  to  come  to  the  surface,  promising  not  to 
molest  them. 

MCDONALD  AND  HIS  PARTY  WERE  SEIZED,  HOWEVER,  WHEN 
THEY  REACHED  THE  SURFACE  AND  MARCHED  TO  THE  FORT  ON 
BULL  HILL,  WHERE  THEY  WERE  SUBJECTED  TO  TORTURES  AND 
INDIGNITIES  OF  THE  MOST  FOUL  AND  REVOLTING  NATURE.  ONE 
OF  THEM,  NAMED  ROBINSON,  BECAME  INSANE  AS  A  RESULT  OF 
THE  INCONCEIVABLY  SHOCKING  ABUSE  WHICH  HIS  FIENDISH  CAP- 
TORS HEAPED  UPON  HIM. 

Governor  Waite  placed  his  soldiers  betwen  the  large  posse 
of  deputy  sheriffs  from  Colorado  Springs,  and  the  fortified 
strikers,  permitting  the  latter  to  evacuate  the  fort  and  escape 
arrest. 

A  body  of  armed  strikers  took  possession  of  a  train  and 
went  out  several  miles  to  meet  an  incoming  posse  of  deputy 
sheriffs,  whom  they  engaged  in  battle. 

11 


DEPUTY  SHERIFF  FRANK  RABIDEAUX  WAS  KILLED,  AND 
OTHERS  WERE  WOUNDED. 

Four  of  the  insurrectionists  were  captured  and  later  ex- 
changed for  the  McDonald  party  who  were  prisoners  in  the 
Federation  fort.  The  fiendishness  of  the  torture  inflicted  upon 
non-union  captives  by  the  strikers  is  indicated  by  the  case  of 
Charles  Ferguson,  who  was  beaten  with  clubs  until  his  legs 
were  broken. 

The  mine  owners  were  practically  forced  to  accept  the 
agreement  with  the  miners  as  suggested  by  the  Governor,  who, 
in  the  settlement^  acted  as  the  agent  of  the  strikers,  backed  by 
his  militia,  and  who  demanded  that  none  but  union  men  be 
employed.  This  agreement  for  eight  hours'  work  and  $3.00  per  day 
pay  was  strictly  kept  by  the  mine  owners,  but  was  broken  by 
President  Moyer,  who  ordered  the  sympathetic  strike  on  August 
10th  last.  The  mine  owners  are  still  working  their  men  eight 
hours  at  the  minimum  $3.00  wage,  although  it  is  now  a  non- 
union camp. 

Only  two  of  the  many  criminals  reached  the  penitentiary, 
and  they  were  soon  released  as  a  result  of  the  influence  of  the 
Federation  at  the  State  Capitol. 


ARMED  REBELLION  IN  LEADVILLE. 

On  September  15th,  1896,  war  broke  out  between  the  -West- 
ern Federation  of  Miners  and  the  civil  authorities  in  Leadville. 

A  large  number  of  Federation  miners,  fully  armed,  attacked 
the  officials  and  non-union  men  at  the  shaft  house  at  the  Coron- 
ado  mine.  During  the  fight  they  set  fire  to  the  buildings.  The 
fire  department  came  to  the  rescue,  as  it  was  well  within  the  city 
limits. 

WHILE  TRYING  TO  EXTINGUISH  THE  FIRE,  FIREMAN  JERRY 
O'KEEFE  WAS  SHOT  DEAD  BY  THE  STRIKERS,  WHO  WERE  TRYING 
TO  BURN  THE  BUILDINGS. 

Firing  was  kept  up  and  one  striker  was  killed  and  many 
wounded  on  both  sides.  At  the  same  time  other  mine  houses 
were  attacked  and  unsuccessful  attempts  were  made  to  set  them 
on  fire.  Governors  Mclntyre  and  Alva  Adams  regarded  the  situa- 
tion as  so  dangerous  that  they  kept  the  militia  in  the  field  for  six 
months  at  enormous  expense  to  the  state.  For  a  whi-le  shooting 
at  the  soldiers  was  kept  up  from  the  hillsides  at  night  as  they 
patrolled  their  lonely  beats,  protecting  the  various  properties 
from  destruction.  The  county  officials  sympathized  with  the 
rioters  and  placed  many  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  law.  It  is  believed  that  twenty  to  thirty  people  lost 
their  lives  during  this  six  months  as  a  result  of  this  rebellion. 

12 


At  the  Legislative  investigation  into  the  strike,  certain  of- 
ficials of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  testified  that  arms 
and  ammunition  had  been  bought  with  Federation  money  to 
arm  the  strikers  who  attacked  the  Coronado  and  other  mines. 

Since  the  troops  left  Leadville  the  Western  Federation  of 
Miners  has  not  been  permitted  to  get  control  of  the  mines 
or  the  political  offices,  and,  as  a  result,  peace,  prosperity  and  happi- 
ness followed,  as  in  the  Coeur  d'Alenes. 


13 


ANARCHY  IN  THE  TELLURIDE  DISTRICT. 


In  February,  1901,  Vincent  St.  John  (now  a  fugitive  from 
justice,  charged  with  rioting  and  murder)  was  elected  President 
of  the  Telluride  Miners'  Union  of  the  Western  Federation  of 
Miners. 

St.  John  was  a  dangerous  agitator,  with  strong  anarchis- 
tic tendencies.  He  believed  in  force  and  murder,  if  necessary, 
to  carry  on  the  campaign  of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners. 
He  soon  stirred  up  trouble  between  the  Smuggler-Union  Com- 
pany and  such  of  its  miners  as  belonged  to  the  union.  St.  John, 
for  the  Federation,  demanded  that  the  "fathom"  system  of  work 
be  abolished.  Manager  Collins  replied  that  it  was  optional  with 
his  men  whether  they  worked  by  the  "fathom"  or  by  the  day, 
and  he  declined  to  change  the  system. 

A  strike  was  declared  on  May  1st,  1901. 

On  June  1st  a  number  of  the  former  employes  returned  to 
work.  The  force  was  gradually  increased  until,  on  July  1st, 
200  non-union  men  were  at  work  in  the  mine. 

JULY  3,  AT  DAYBREAK,  250  FEDERATION  MINERS,  ARMED 
WITH  RIFLES,  SHOTGUNS  AND  REVOLVERS,  TOOK  POSITION  BE- 
HIND ROCKS,  TREES  AND  OTHER  OBSTRUCTIONS  NEAR  THE  MINE 
BUILDINGS  OF  THE  SMUGGLER-UNION.  WHEN  THE  NIGHT  SHIFT 
CAME  OFF  AND  THE  MORNING  SHIFT  WAS  ABOUT  TO  GO  ON,  A 
FUSILADE  OF  SHOTS  WAS  FIRED  INTO  THE  BUILDINGS.  TWO  MEN 
WERE  KILLED— ONE,  A  MEXICAN,  MET  ON  THE  TRAIL;  ANOTHER, 
A  UNION  MINER,  KILLED  BY  MISTAKE  BY  ONE  OF  THE  STRIKERS. 

Charles  Becker,  mine  superintendent,  received  three 
wounds.  A  Krag-Jorgensen  bullet  shattered  his  right  arm. 
Crippled  for  life. 

William  Jordan,  shift  boss,  shot  through  the  hip.  Crip- 
pled for  life. 

George  Nicholson  was  seriously  wounded,  and  after  suffer- 
ing for  weeks  was  taken  East  to  die  among  his  friends. 

The  buildings  were  riddled  with  bullets,  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  killed  and  wounded  was  only  avoided  by  the  action  of  the 
mtended  victims  in  promptly  seeking  shelter. 

After  about  three  hours,  a  parley  was  held,  President  St. 
John  representing  the  rioters.  The  non-union  men  agreed  to 
surrender  with  the  understanding  that  they  would  be  permitted 
to  go  to  Telluride  unmolested.  This  St.  John  promised,  but 
when  the  armed  union  men  came  from  behind  the  rocks  and  trees 

14 


they  took  possession  of  the  mine  and  lined  the  non-union  men 
up.  The  captured  men  each  had  a  small  bundle  of  clothes, 
which  they  intended  to  take  away  with  them.  These  were  at 
once  opened  by  the  Federation  men,  and  everything  of  value 
was  stolen. 

THESE  HELPLESS  AND  UNARMED  MEN,  TO  THE  NUMBER  OF 
EIGHTY-THREE,  WERE  SURROUNDED  AND  SUBJECTED  TO  THE 
MOST  INFAMOUS  ABUSE.  WHILE  COVERED  WITH  RIFLES  THEY 
WERE  KICKED  AND  CUFFED  AND  BEATEN,  AND  IN  SOME  CASES 
THEIR  CLOTHING  WAS  TORN  FROM  THEIR  BACKS-  MANY  OF  THEM 
WERE  FORCED  TO  TAKE  OFF  THEIR  SHOES  AND  STOCKINGS  AND 
THROW  THEM  AWAY.  THEY  WERE  THEN  LINED  UP  AND  FORCED 
TO  MARCH  UP  OVER  THE  RUGGED  MOUNTAIN  AND  AWAY  FROM 
THE  DISTRICT. 

This  band  of  howling,  cursing,  bloodthirsty  fiends  followed 
closely  behind  their  captives,  occasionally  shooting  into 
the  crowd  or  kicking  and  beating  footsore  stragglers.  The 
trail  to  the  summit  was  red  with  the  Uood  of  American  workmen, 
who  were  being  bruised,  beaten  and  tortured  by  the  Western  Federa- 
tion of  Miners,  for  the  crime  of  earning  their  daily  bread  by  honest 
toil,  without  the  consent  of  that  organization. 

Thomas  Ballard  shot.  While  toiling  up  the  steep  moun- 
tain trail  under  the  direction  of  his  inhuman  captors,  an  old 
and  respected  citizen  of  the  San  Juan,  Thomas  Ballard,  was 
wantonly  shot  through  both  arms  and  crippled  for  life.  Foot- 
sore, half  naked  and  bleeding,  this  victim  of  the  Western  Fed- 
eration of  Miners  reached  Silverton  (fifteen  miles  away)  and  was 
cared  for  by  friends. 

Torture  of  Edwin  Thomas.  At  the  mountain  top,  Edwin 
Thomas,  a  small  man,  was  set  upon  and  beaten  into  insensi- 
bility and  left  for  dead  by  the  Federation  riflemen.  Keviving, 
he  dragged  himself  over  the  sharp  and  precipitous  rocks  to  an 
abandoned  cabin,  some  distance  away.  During  the  night  two 
Federation  miners  came  in  and,  denouncing  him  as  a  "scab," 
gave  him  another  terrible  beating  and  drove  him  out  into  the 
dark.  He  worked  his  way  to  Ironton,  two  miles  distant,  where 
he  received  succor. 

This  body  of  human  wolves  then  returned  to  the  mine,  and 
took  and  held  possession  of  it. 

Governor  Orman  refused  to  send  troops,  as  his  representa- 
tive had  wired  him  that  the  strikers  were  in  "peaceable  pos- 
session" of  the  mine.  Instead,  he  sent  a  radical  socialistic  labor 
agitator,  named  Coates,  then  Lieutenant  Governor,  and  Murphy, 
a  strike  lawyer,  together  with  District  Judge  Theron  Stevens, 
to  investigate  and  patch  up  a  peace. 

A  settlement  was  reached  without  the  aid  of  the  Governor's 
commission,  and  the  contract  method  of  work  was  abandoned. 

When  the  agreement  was  signed,  Mr.  St.  John,  having  won 
his  strike,  relinquished  his  "peaceable  possession"  of  the  mine 
and  permitted  the  owners  to  take  charge  of  their  property. 

15 


A  great  demonstration  was  made  at  the  funeral  of  the  union 
miner  who  was  killed.  Six  hundred  dollars  was  appro- 
priated for  his  tombstone  by  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners, 
who,  while  pretending  to  be  opposed  to  violence,  honored  in 
every  way  this  man  who,  when  killed,  was  engaged  with  arms 
in  an  effort  to  commit  murder.  The  orator  at  the  unveiling 
ceremony  a  year  later,  pointed  to  the  railway,  the  buildings  of 
the  town  and  other  property,  and  told  the  miners  these  things 
belonged  to  them  and  to  go  and  take  them. 

Having  won  the  strike  with  the  aid  of  murder  and  a  supine 
Governor,  the  Western  Federation  men  were  emboldened  to  con- 
tinue their  terrorism. 

Non-union  men  were  waylaid,  assaulted  and  driven  out  of 
camp.  A  boycott  was  placed  on  the  Telluride  Journal  for  declin- 
ing to  support  the  anarchist  St.  John  for  Sheriff  on  the  Demo- 
cratic ticket.  It  was  extended  to  the  merchants  who  advertised 
in  the  Journal.  The  editor  held  out  and  won,  despite  continued 
and  repeated  threats  of  violence. 

The  climax  came  to  this  reign  of  brutality  and  blood  when, 
on  November  19,  1902,  Manager  Arthur  L.  Collins,  of  the  Smug- 
gler-Union mine,  was  killed  by  a  shot  fired  through  a  window 
while  he  was  sitting  at  his  fireside  with  his  friends.  When  the 
grand  jury  indicted  St.  John  and  others  for  this  murder,  Judge 
Theron  Stevens  quashed  the  indictments.  A  new  warrant  was 
sworn  out  and  St.  John  has  been  a  fugitive  from  justice  ever 
since. 

The  Western  Federation  of  Miners  pretended  to  be  horror- 
stricken  at  these  crimes,  and,  as  usual,  high-sounding  denuncia- 
tion of  crime  came  from  headquarters,  and  yet  it  was  discovered 
that  two  hundred  and  fifty  rifles  and  fifty  thousand  cartridges 
were  ordered  l)y  the  union  on  union  letterhead,  and  paid  for  by  a 
draft  signed  by  the  President,  St.  John,  who  was  conducting  the 
strike  under  the  direction  of  the  Western  Federation  officers. 


MOLLY  MAGUIREISM. 

JUNE  23,  igoi,  MURDER.  J.  W.  BARNEY,  A  NON-UNION  SHIFT 
BOSS  OF  THE  SMUGGLER  MINE,  WAS  ATTACKED  IN  A  LIVERY 
STABLE  IN  TELLURIDE.  HE  WAS  HEARD  TO  CRY  OUT,  "DON'T  MUR- 
DER ME,"  AND  WAS  TAKEN  OUT  INTO  THE  DARK  BY  FEDERATION 
MEN  AND  HAS  NEVER  BEEN  SEEN  SINCE.  REWARDS  BROUGHT  NO 
CLUE.  THE  YOUTH  WHO  HEARD  HIM  CALL  OUT  ALSO  MYSTERI- 
OUSLY DISAPPEARED  WHEN  THE  TIME  CAME  FOR  HIM  TO  TESTIFY 
AND  HIS  REMAINS  HAVE  NEVER  BEEN  FOUND. 

July  2nd,  1901,  F.  H.  Wogan,  a  young  student  from  the 
East,  went  to  work  at  the  Smuggler-Union.  Worked  one  day 

16 


and  was  driven  out  by  the  rioters.  Secured  a  position  as  teacher 
in  a  public  school  ten  miles  distant;  a  crowd  of  Western  Federa- 
tion men  forced  him  to  give  up  the  school  and  leave  the  country. 

OCTOBER  10,  1901,  MURDER.  JOHN  MAHONEY,  NON-UNION  EM- 
PLOYE OF  THE  SMUGGLER,  WHO  HAD  OFFENDED  THE  FEDERATION, 
STARTED  FOR  THE  MINE  AT  NIGHT  FROM  TELLURIDE,  AND  HAS 
NEVER  BEEN  SEEN  SINCE.  REWARDS  BROUGHT  NO  RESULTS. 

MARCH  2,  1902,  MURDER.  WESLEY  J.  SMITH,  A  NON-UNION 
SHIFT  BOSS  OF  THE  LIBERTY  BELL  MINE,  CAME  TO  TELLURIDE. 
DURING  THE  EVENING  HE  WAS  SEEN  WITH  SOME  FEDERATION 
MEN,  SINCE  WHICH  TIME  NO  TRACE  OF  HIM  HAS  BEEN  FOUND. 
LARGE  REWARDS  OFFERED  WITHOUT  RESULTS. 

Regarding  the  failure  of  the  civil  authorities  to  enforce  the 
law  in  this  section  (San  Miguel)  Attorney  General  Miller,  in  an 
oral  argument  before  the  Supreme  Court,  made  this  significant 
statement: 

.  "I  know,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  the  law  in  San  Miguel  county,  in 
some  respects,  has  not  been  enforced  for  the  last  five  or  six  years.  It  is  in  my 
neighborhood  of  the  state.  And  one  of  the  papers  filed  in  the  governor's 
office  by  persons  who  are  opposed  to  sending  the  military  into  that  county, 
contains  some  thirty  pages  of  typewriting,  reciting  the  crimes  in  that  county, 
which  have  gone  unpunished,  and  most  of  them  undetected,  so  far  as  the  per- 
petrators are  concerned.  And  I  want  to  say  that  in  many  of  the  mining 
counties  of  the  state  of  Colorado  you  can,  in  certain  cases,  file  information, 
if  you  choose,  but  unless  the  jury  wants  to  convict,  you  can  not-  You  can 
often  find  out  on  the  streets,  before  you  begin  a  trial,  what  is  going  to  be 
the  verdict.  This  has  been  the  case,  more  or  less,  in  San  Miguel  county,  and 
in  Teller  county,  and  it  has  been  so  for  years." 

The  St.  John  agreement  with  the  Western  Federation  of 
Miners  continued  in  effect  until  September  1st,  1903,  when  it 
was  broken  by  that  organization  ordering  a  strike,  ostensibly 
in  support  of  the  mill  men  in  that  section.  Armed  Federation 
pickets  were  stationed  at  some  of  the  mines,  which  remained  idle 
for  several  weeks,  until  Governor  Peabody  sent  in  militia  to 
protect  the  new  men  whom  the  companies  employed  to  open 
their  properties. 

These  mines  were  soon  in  operation,  but  it  was  necessary 
to  keep  soldiers  there  all  winter  and  spring,  owing  to  the  pres- 
ence and  attitude  of  some  of  the  old  murderous  element  of  the 
Federation,  who  remained  in  the  district,  and  who  were  finally 
escorted  out  of  the  county.  Prior  to  the  coming  of  the  troops,  it 
had  been  impossible  to  apprehend  those  guilty  of  the  lon<j  list  of 
outrages  and  murders  committed  by  the  Federation  in  this  district. 

ARMORY  RAIDED,  LAKE  CITY,  COLO. 

March  13th,  1899.  Striking  Federation  miners  at  Lake  City, 
Colo.,  broke  into  the  State  armory  of  the  local  militia  company 
and  robbed  it  of  all  arms  and  ammunition.  No  arrests. 

17 


VIOLENCE  AT  COLORADO  CITY. 


The  men  at  the  Standard  Reduction  Works  at  Colorado  City, 
who  struck  on  February  14th,  1903,  did  so  under  the  direction 
of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners.  They  demanded  more 
pay  and  more  complete  recognition  of  the  union.  The  eight-hour 
day  was  not  demanded,  for  it  had  been  in  effect  at  this  mill  for 
five  years.  President  Moyer,  when  asked  by  the  Governor's  Com- 
mission if  the  working  hours  had  anything  to  do  with  the  strike, 
replied,  "Nothing  whatever." 

The  strikers  and  their  friends  marched  through  the  mill 
and  drove  the  men  out.  Out  of  about  240  employes  thirty-five 
were  known  to  be  members  of  the  Federation,  and  these,  with 
about  forty  others  who  were  intimidated,  constituted,  according 
to  the  company,  all  those  leaving  their  employ.  Union  pickets 
were  placed  on  all  roads  leading  to  the  mill  and  threats,  in- 
timidation and  fist  fights  were  soon  reported.  The  men  at  the 
mill  were  obliged  to  go  to  and  from  their  work  in  squads  for 
self-protection.  Non-union  men  and  members  of  their  families 
were  followed,  threatened  and  insulted  on  the  streets. 

March  2nd,  1903.  John  Deming  and  Ross  Walter,  non-union 
employes  of  the  Standard  Mill,  were  attacked  by  strikers  and 
badly  beaten. 

Same  day.  L.  S.  Harner,  A.  B.  Coplen  and  Ray  Coplen,  non- 
union men,  were  brutally  assaulted.  Several  strikers  were  ar- 
rested, but  none  punished.  The  Sheriff,  knowing  the  history  of 
the  Federation,  seeing  that  it  had  adopted  the  usual  policy 
of  slugging  and  murder,  called  for  the  militia,  which  was  sent. 

July  5th.  Attempted  wholesale  murder.  An  attempt  was 
made  at  2  a.  m.  to  blow  up  the  power  house  of  the  Colorado 
Springs  Electric  Company,  which  furnished  power  to  the  Stand- 
ard mill,  endangering  the  lives  of  seventeen  men.  Owing  to  the 
bungling  work  of  the  perpetrators  no  lives  were  lost.  Only  a 
portion  of  the  dynamite  exploded,  the  rest  being  scattered  and 
broken. 

Failing  in  their  efforts  to  close  the  mill,  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Federation  sought  to  cut  off  the  ore  supply  by 
ordering  a  strike  in  Teller  County.  This  strike  was  ordered  on 

18 


August  10th,  1903,  which  took  from  employment  4,000  miners, 
who  expressed  no  dissatisfaction  with  their  pay,  hours  or  condi- 
tions of  employment.  The  eight-hour  day  had  been  in  effect  since 
1894. 

DYNAMITE  ARGUMENT  AT  IDAHO  SPRINGS,  COLO. 

July  28th,  1903.  A  strike  had  been  on  for  several  weeks 
and  the  mines  were  beginning  to  start  up  with  non-union  men, 
which  promised  a  defeat  for  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners. 
The  last  mine  to  start  was  the  Sun  and  Moon  mine,  and  former 
President  Bates  of  the  Federation  testified  that  it  was  the  deci- 
sion to  dynamite  this  property  which  caused  him  to  resign  his 
office. 

On  this  date  late  at  night  the  watchman  at  the  mine  saw 
two  men  roll  two  kegs  down  the  hill  against  the  transformer 
house  and  blow  it  up.  The  building  and  contents  were  ruined, 
and  a  missile  from  the  explosion  killed  one  of  the  perpetrators 
of  the  deed — Philip  Fire,  a  Federation  man. 

The  law-abiding  citizens  of  Idaho  Springs  immediately  con- 
cluded that  they  would  permit  no  reign  of  terror  to  be  inaugu- 
rated in  their  town,  as  the  Western  Federation  had  set  in  to  do, 
and  promptly  escorted  out  of  their  city  all  men  whom  they 
believed  to  be  dangerous  to  the  public  peace.  No  trouble  has 
occurred  since  this  action  was  taken. 

APPALLING  RECORD  IN  TELLER  COUNTY. 

The  Western  Federation  of  Miners  is  openly  and  formally 
committed  to  a  so-called  Socialist  political  party  which  does  not 
recognize  the  right  to  private  property.  On  the  union  cards  of 
the  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  issued  in  Cripple  Creek  Dis- 
trict (Teller  county)  is  the  following: 

"Labor  produces  all  wealth.    Wealth  belongs  to  the  producer  thereof." 

And  the  same  appears  on  the  cover  of  their  official  magazine. 

Many  of  the  radical  Socialist  members  and  others  who  were 
naturally  inclined  to  be  dishonest,  took  the  Federation  at  its 
word,  and  the  stealing  of  rich  ore  became  a  settled  practice  with 
many  of  them.  Large  quantities  of  ore  were  stolen  in  small  lots 
from  the  mines  and  many  tons  from  ore  bins  and  cars,  in  the  ag- 
gregate amounting  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars,  upon 
the  theory  that  it  was  not  theft,  because  the  ore  did  not  belong 
to  the  mine  owner.  The  ore  stealing  cases  mentioned  below 
show  that  they  were  practically  all  committed  by  Federation 
men,  and  in  all  but  one  or  two  instances,  the  thieves  escaped, 
because  of  the  difficulty  of  convicting  a  union  man,  or  because 
those  who  were  to  testify  were  afraid  to  do  so  owing  to  the  mur- 
derous policy  of  the  Western  Federation. 

19 


The  county  and  town  offices  of  the  entire  district  were  held 
or  controlled  by  Federation  men. 
County: 

Sheriff,  H.  M.  Kobertson,  Miners'  Union  No.  32. 
Under  Sheriff,  Jim  Gaughn,  Miners'  Union  No.  19. 
Coroner,  M.  J.  Doran,  Miners'  Union  No.  32. 
The  County  Clerk  and  Assessor  were  union  men,  and 
other  officials  were  controlled  by  the  Federation. 

Altman: 

Justice  of  the  Peace,  J.  W.  Cooper,  Miners'  Union 
No.  19. 

Independence: 

Marshal,  Harvey  Starbuck,  Miners'  Union  No.  19. 

Goldfield: 

Police  Magistrate,  H.  P.  Kean,  Miners'  Union  No.  19. 
Day  Marshal,  J.  J.  Brothers,  Miners'  Union  No.  19. 
Night  Marshal,  E.  C.  McCarthy,  Miners'  Union  No.  19. 
Aldermen,  all  Federation  men. 

Victor: 

Day  Marshal,  Mike  J.'O'Connell,  Miners'  Union  No.  32. 
Night  Marshal,  Mike  Lamb,  Miners'  Union  No.  32. 
Four  Policemen,  Miners'  Union  No.  32. 
Street  Commissioner,  Simon  O'Rourke,  Miners'  Union 

No.  32. 

Fire  Chief,  J.  Murphy,  Jr.,  Miners'  Union  No.  32. 
Jailer,  Jas.  Printy,  Miners'  Union  No.  32. 
Alderman,  J.  Murphy,  Sr.,  Miners'  Union  No.  32. 
Alderman,  Jas.  J.  Tobin,  Miners'  Union  No.  32. 
Alderman,  Hugh  Healy,  Miners'  Union  No.  32. 

Anaconda: 

Alderman,  A.  Petersen,  Miners'  Union  No.  21. 
Alderman,  Burt  Hutchinson,  Miners'  Union  No.  21. 
Alderman,  Paul  Hensen,  Miners'  Union  No.  21. 
Marshal  and  all  officials,  partisans  of  the  Western  Fed- 
eration of  Miners. 

Cripple  Creek: 

There  were  but  one  or  two  offices  held  by  Western  Fed- 
eration of  Miners  men,  but  many  of  them  were  held 
by  union  men  and  others  who  were  controlled  by  the 
Western  Federation  of  Miners. 

It  is  impossible  to  list  here  all  the  cases  of  ore  stealing,  of 
assaults  and  even  murders  of  non-union  men.  A  number  of 
these  crimes  were  kept  from  the  public  and  the  only  source  of 
information  regarding  such  crimes  is  the  memory  of  those  who 
knew  the  details  which  wrere  suppressed  at  the  time.  A  few  of 
the  cases  recorded  in  the  press  and  courts  will,  however,  suffice 

20 


to  show  that  the  same  spirit  of  lawlessness  and  murder  animated 
the  men  controlling  the  Federation  in  Teller  county  that  inspired 
them  to  commit  the  long  list  of  crimes  in  the  Coeur  d'Alenes, 
Leadville,  Telluride  and  elsewhere,  where  they  have  left  a  trail 
of  blood. 


A  RECORD  OF  OUTRAGES  AND  MURDER. 

JANUARY  10,  1899,  MURDER.  GEORGE  HONSER,  KILLED  NEAR 
THE  LINCOLN  MINE  BY  ORE  THIEVES,  WHO  MISTOOK  HIM  FOR  A 
SPY.  BODY  PLACED  ON  RAILROAD  TRACK  NO  ONE  PUNISHED. 

MARCH  22,  1899,  KILLING.  ROBERT  SHAW,  FEDERATION  MINER, 
FIRED  TWO  SHOTS  AT  JOHN  BUZANES,  NON-UNION  MINER;  BUZANES 
RETURNED  THE  FIRE  AND  KILLED  SHAW. 

May  1st,  1899.  Shooting  and  dynamiting:  Phillip  Shuck, 
assayer,  shot.  His  assay  office  was  dynamited  later.  No  one 
punished. 

May  31st,  1899.  Ore  theft:  J.  J.  Topman,  engineer  Mary 
McKinney  mine,  held  up  and  high  grade  ore  stolen  by  Federation 
men.  Two  convicted. 

JUNE  7,  1899,  KILLING.  CHARLES  BURNS  KILLED  MEL.  FOLEY 
IN  A  SALOON.  BOTH  FEDERATION  MEN.  NO  CONVICTION. 

June  9th,  1899.  Stabbing  affray:  W.  McCormack  stabbed 
by  a  Federation  man  named  McCrosky  in  Victor.  No  con- 
viction. 

June  28th,  1899.  Shooting:  Jack  Haley  shot  and  seriously 
injured  Frank  Murry,  in  a  dispute,  it  was  claimed,  over  some  ore 
stealing  transaction.  Both  Federation  men.  Not  prosecuted. 

November  23d,  1899.  Attack  shaft  house:  Attempt  made  to 
rob  Alliance  shaft  house.  Watchman  claimed  to  recognize  them 
as  Federation  men  from  Altman.  No  prosecution. 

November  23d,  1899.  Slugging:  Railway  agent  at  Inde- 
pendence held  up  and  badly  beaten  by  masked  men.  Same  gang 
afterward  tried  similar  hold  up;  were  recognized  as  Federation 
men  from  Altman,  and  one  was  finally  convicted. 

November  23d,  1899.  Attempted  murder:  Sam  Duree,  a 
non-union  man,  set  upon  and  nearly  beaten  to  death  and  left  to 
die  on  a  trail.  Witnesses  were  afraid  to  testify,  and  no  one 
was  prosecuted. 

December  20th,  1899.  Ore  stealing:  Fred  Swanbeck  and 
Clyde  Metten,  Federation  men,  were  caught  stealing  ore  from 
the  Little  Puck  mine.  Released.  Later  caught  again  stealing 
from  Climax  mine,  and  this  time  were  given  jail  sentence. 

December  28th,  1899.  Assault  and  robbery:  J.  S.  Armor, 
assayer,  beaten  into  insensibility  by  men  recognized  as  union 

21 


miners  who  had  sold  the  assayer  "high  grade"  ore  and  not  re- 
ceived what  they  expected.  Escaped  from  officer.  No  prosecu- 
tion. 

'January  6th,  1900.  Assault  and  robbery:  B.  G.  Shell 
dragged  from  his  home  and  badly  beaten  and  robbed.  No 
arrests. 

January  7th,  1900.  Attempted  murder:  J.  W.  Tarpy  as- 
saulted and  nearly  killed. 

January  17th,  1900.  Attempted  murder:  Attempt  made  to 
kill  Tom  Scott 

.  March  2nd,  1900.     Assault:     Walter  Ross  sandbagged.    No 
arrests. 

March  24th,  1900.  Robbery,  arson:  William  Buris,  watch- 
man El  Paso  mine,  caught  two  Federation  men  stealing  ore. 
Tried,  released,  and  in  short  time  later  on  a  dark  night  Buris' 
house  was  blown  to  atoms  by  dynamite.  No  arrests. 

July  6th,  1900.  Assault:  Joseph  Brown,  non-union  miner, 
sandbagged  on  Carr  avenue.  No  arrest. 

July  30th,  1900.  Arson:  Bankers'  mine  shaft  house  burned 
to  ground.  Management  had  offended  some  Federation  men. 
No  arrests. 

June  14th,  1900.  Assault:  Alex  Lawson,  non-union  man, 
assaulted  at  Vindicator  mine  with  an  ax.  Ed  Laline  arrested. 

February  21st,  1901.  Attempted  murder:  A.  J.  Herran  held 
up  and  seriously  shot  by  men  who  called  him  a  "scab."  No 
arrests. 

March  2nd,  1901.  Attempted  murder:  James  Lecky,  a 
prominent  Federation  man,  who  had  been  frequently  arrested, 
was  found  guilty  of  assault  to  kill  James  Gaffney. 

March  28th,  1901.  Dynamite:  Grand  View  shaft  house  on 
Gold  Hill  dynamited.  Buildings  partly  burned.  No  arrests. 

April  21st,  1901.  Dynamite:  Rittenhouse  shaft,  Gold  Hill, 
dynamited.  No  arrests. 

June  14th,  1901.  Arson:  U.  S.  Fish  arrested  for  setting  fire 
to  a  hotel.  Released  and  prosecution  dropped.  Fish  closely 
connected  with  unions. 

June  15th,  1901.  Assault:  Agent  Niles  of  the  Short  Line, 
waylaid  and  badly  beaten  by  masked  men,  who  mistook  him  for 
a  mine  owner  whom  they  had  had  trouble  with  about  hiring 
non-union  men. 

July  2nd,  1901.  Assault:  Mark  Moran  assaulted  Thos. 
Maher,  a  non-union  man,  at  Independence.  Arrested  but  re- 
leased. 

July  23rd,  1901.  Arson:  El  Paso  Reduction  Works  at 
Florence  set  on  fire  and  destroyed.  Loss,  approximately  $250,- 
000.  No  arrests. 

22 


From  Federation  proclamation,  posted  generally  all  over  the 
district  August  6th,  1901: 

"Hence  take  notice:  That  on  and  after  September 
15th,  1901,  anyone  working  in  or  around  the  mines, 
mills  or  power  plants  of  the  Cripple  Creek  District, 
who  cannot  show  a  card  of  membership  in  good  stand- 
ing of  some  local  union  of  the  Western  Federation  of 
Miners,  will  be  considered  a  scab  and  an  enemy  to  us, 
himself  and  the  community  at  large  and  irill  be  treated 
as  such. 

"By  order  of  the  Cripple  Creek  Executive  Board 
of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners. 

"JNO.  CURRY, 

President." 

The  outrages  on  non-union  men  show  a  marked  increase 
after  this  notice  was  issued. 

August  14th,  1901.  Street  fight:  Vicious  fight  near  Ed. 
Doyle's  saloon,  at  Midway,  between  union  and  non-union  men. 
No  arrests. 

August  15th,  1901.  Robbery:  John  Reardon  sandbagged 
and  robbed,  across  the  street  from  Sheriff's  office.  No  arrests. 

August  17th,  1901.  Assault:  Charles  Parker,  non-union 
miner,  beaten  with  clubs  and  rocks  near  Elkton.  No  one  pun- 
ished. 

August  21st,  1901.  Assault  and  ore  stealing:  Robert  Dun- 
lap,  night  watchman,  and  Engineer  Lynch,  of  Vindicator  mine, 
beaten  badly,  bound  and  gagged.  Seven  sacks  of  high  grade  ore 
stolen.  No  arrests. 

August  22nd,  1901.  Assault:  Sam  Jones,  non-union  man, 
sandbagged,  robbed,  left  on  street  with  underclothes  only.  No 
arrests. 

August  30th,  1901.  Dynamiting:  Cabin  of  Sam  Leeks,  non- 
union man,  blown  up  by  dynamite  and  wrecked.  No  conviction. 

August  31st,  1901.  Assault  and  deportation:  Steve  Moore 
and  Jack  Robinson,  non-union  men,  taken  from  Findley  mine 
at  night,  marched  at  point  of  guns  to  point  below  Victor,  or- 
dered to  leave  country.  Robinson  badly  beaten  up.  No  arrests. 

September  5th,  1901.  Free  fight:  Free  fight  between  union 
and  non-union  men  at  Independence.  Twenty  engaged.  Matter 
dropped. 

September  9th,  1901.  The  following  notice  was  posted 
throughout  the  district: 

23 


"To  All  Non-Union  Miners  of  the  Cripple,  Creek  Dis- 
trict: 

"You  have  no  doubt  read  and  thought  about  our 
circular  which  was  posted  pretty  thoroughly  through- 
out this  district  about  five  weeks  ago.  This  notice  is 
issued  for  the  purpose  of  reminding  you  that  the  15th 
of  September  is  near  at  hand;  that  the  time  of  grace  Las 
about  expired.  You  have  had  two  pay  days  in  which 
to  decide  whether  you  are  for  us  or  against  us — there 
is  no  middle  ground.  While  a  majority  of  the  men  work- 
ing in  and  around  the  mines,  mills  and  power  plants 
have  responded  to  the  call,  there  are  still  some  outside 
our  ranks.  To  these  this  notice  is  addressed.  If  you 
are  working  in  or  around  the  mines,  mills  or  power 
plants  of  this  district,  THIS  MEANS  YOU.  Now,  don't 
throw  this  to  one  side  and  say,  'Only  another  bluff.'  If 
you  are  'from  Missouri,'  come  into  some  of  the  unions 
of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  and  we'll  'show' 
you  that  we  are  trying  to  help  you,  as  well  as  ourselves, 
and  as  the  15th  is  only  about  six  days  away,  'you'll 
have  to  hurry.' 

"The  Cripple  Creek  District  Executive  Board  of  the 
Western  Federation  of  Miners.  September  9th,  1901. 

"By  JOHN  CUBBY,  President." 

September  10th,  1901.  Dynamiting:  John  Tyler's  non-union 
barber  shop,  Cripple  Creek,  blown  up  with  dynamite.  No  arrests. 

September  10th,  1901.  Assault:  A.  F.  Hazeltine  and  J.  F. 
Sweeney,  non-union  men,  returning  from  work  at  midnight,  were 
taken  up  Squaw  Mountain  and  terribly  beaten  by  masked  men. 
Accused  of  being  scabs.  Captors  threatened  to  throw  them  in 
shaft.  One  escaped;  the  other  let  go  on  promise  that  he  would 
leave  district.  Big  reward  offered  by  employers.  No  arrests. 

September  18th,  1901.  Assault:  D.  J.  Smith,  non-union 
miner,  Gold  King  mine,  brutally  beaten  and  seriously  injured. 
No  arrests. 

September  24th,  1901.  Attempted  murder:  Attempt  made 
on  life  of  Lawrence  McNulty,  a  non-union  man,  at  Goldfield. 

September  27th,  1901.  Attempted  arson  and  murder:  Fred 
Taggart  struck  down  and  beaten  at  Anaconda  and  house  set  on 
fire.  No  arrests. 

October  10th,  1901.  Mysterious  disappearance:  Non-union 
miners  named  Hamm  and  McLain  mysteriously  disappeared  from 
Victor. 

24 


October  28th,  1901.  Fred  Barber  and  Ed  Maynard,  two 
Federation  men,  caught  stealing  ore;  had  f  1,000  worth  in  their 
possession.  Acquitted  by  jury  of  Federation  men  and  their 
sympathizers. 

October  30th,  1901.  Assault:  J.  J.  Sullivan,  non-union 
miner,  badly  beaten  up  by  six  men  on  his  way  to  work  in  Modoc 
mine.  No  arrests. 

November  10th,  1901.  Dynamited:  John  Tyler  (colored), 
non-union  barber,  died  as  a  result  of  the  dynamiting  of  his  shop 
on  September  10th.  Perpetrators  of  the  crime  escaped. 

DECEMBER  27,  1901,  MURDER.  MARTIN  GLEASON,  MANAGER  OF 
THE  WILD  HORSE  MINE,  MURDERED  AND  THROWN  DOWN  A  SHAFT. 
GLEASON  HAD  OFFENDED  THE  FEDERATION,  PARTICULARLY  A 
WALKING  DELEGATE,  A  FEW  DAYS  BEFORE.  SIX  THOUSAND  DOL- 
LARS REWARD  OFFERED.  MURDERER  STILL  AT  LARGE.  LIVES  OF 
MINE  OWNERS  OFFERING  REWARDS  WERE  THREATENED  BY 
LETTER. 

February  4th,  1902.  Assault:  E.  E.  Bradway  and  T.  S. 
Ferris,  members  of  Law  and  Order  League,  assaulted  and  beaten 
in  Cripple  Creek.  Matter  dropped  by  authorities. 

February  24th,  1902.  Dynamiting:  Eight  assay  offices  were 
dynamited  between  the  hours  of  3  and  5  a.  m.  Done  by  ore 
thieves.  No  arrests. 

March  7th,  1902.  Dynamiting:  Zoe  shafthouse  dynamited 
and  destroyed.  No  arrests. 

March  7th,  1902.  Dynamiting:  Cabin  of  "Scotty"  Mclntosch 
d37namited.  No  arrests. 

March  14th,  1902.  J.  Mclllicher,  who  had  refused  to  join 
the  Federation  a  short  time  before,  was  terribly  beaten  up  near 
Independence. 

April  llth,  1902.  Assault:  Masked  men  assaulted  Watch- 
man Parker  at  Damon  shafthouse,  locked  him  in  a  room.  No 
arrests. 

May  29th,  1902.  Shooting:  W.  F.  Davis,  local  Federation 
President,  bound  over  in  the  District  Court  for  shooting  John  J. 
Burke  in  the  back,  at  Altmau.  Tried  before  Federation  jury. 
Guilt  appeared  clear.  He  offered  no  defense  whatever.  Ac- 
quitted. 

May  30th,  1902.  Fights:  Morning  paper  reports  seven  dis- 
graceful and  bloody  fights  during  the  preceding  night.  No 
arrests. 

July  5th,  1902.  Assault:  Albert  Miller,  a  Federation  leader, 
and  five  other  men  cruelly  assaulted  Eugene  Matthews,  Gold- 
field.  No  one  punished.  This  is  the  same  Miller  whom  the  Fed- 
eration Sheriff  placed  as  a  guard  over  the  "evidence"  (wires, 
etc.'  at  scene  of  infernal  machine  explosion  on  the  morning  of 


June  6th.    He  is  also  the  Miller  who  started  the  rioting  in  Victor 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day. 

July  28th,  1902.  Home  of  Mr.  Wescot  dynamited.  Wescot 
opposed  to  Federation  and  prominent  in  prosecuting  ore  thieves. 

August  28th,  1902.  Assault:  E.  P.  Stonehouse  had  refused 
to  join  the  Federation.  Was  assaulted,  beaten  with  brass 
knuckles  and  badly  injured.  No  conviction. 

October  28th,  1902.  Federation  publicly  denounces  Demo- 
cratic nominee  for  State  Auditor  as  unfair  to  organized  labor 
because  he  acted  as  deputv  sheriff  in  the  Cripple  Creek  strike 
of  1894. 

October  30th,  1902.  Sam  Brown,  non-union  railway  agent, 
driven  out  of  district  by  armed  men.  Had  received  many  threat- 
ening letters  and  had  been  twice  burned  out  of  house  and  home. 
No  arrests. 

November  10th,  1902.  Assault:  Chas.  H.  Mishey  taken  from 
War  Eagle  mine,  on  account  of  trouble  with  miners'  union,  and 
terribly  beaten.  E.  Minster  and  W.  L.  Davis,  Federation  offi- 
cials, identified  as  assailants,  but  were  released. 

November  14th,  1902.  T.  Minguist  dragged  from  his  cabin 
in  the  night,  brutally  beaten.  He  had  refused  to  obey  the  cir- 
cular for  all  non-union  miners  to  join  the  miners'  union.  Recog- 
nized assailants,  but  feared  assassination  if  he  testified  against 
them. 

December  1st,  1902.  Assault:  C.  Dimmick,  age  50,  non- 
union man,  taken  from  his  cabin  rrear  Goldfield  and  terribly 
beaten  by  masked  men.  No  arrests. 

Ore  stealing,  assaults  on  non-union  men  and  other  lawless- 
ness by  Federation  men  continued  with  more  or  less  frequency 
up  to  June,  1904,  when  the  terrible  tragedy  at  the  Independence 
depot  occurred. 

July  27th,  1903.  Driven  from  camp:  Five  Austrians  ar 
rived  at  Victor.  Were  called  upon  by  officers  of  Union  No. 
32,  and  some  200  union  men,  who  escorted  them  to  a  point 
south  of  Victor  on  the  mountainside,  told  them  to  leave  and 
never  return  on  pain  of  death,  and  fired  a  volley  over  their  heads. 
They  would  not  permit  the  men  to  get  their  baggage,  which  was 
at  the  depot,  and  refused  to  allow  a  newspaper  reporter  to  take 
notes  of  the  occurrence.  No  arrests  and  no  protests  from  any 
source. 


STRIKE  OF  1903.1904. 

August  10th,  1903.  Strike  inaugurated  in  behalf  of  mill  men 
at  Colorado  City.  All  mines  were  included  whether  they 
shipped  ore  to  the  "unfair"  mill  or  not.  Strike  leaders  publicly 
admitted  that  they  had  no  grievance  against  the  mine  owners  who 
icere  paying  them  the  wages  and  working  them  the  hours  agreed  in 
1894.  The  object  of  the  strike,  they  claimed,  was  to  get  the 
mine  owners  to  bring  pressure  on  the  Standard  Mill  people  at 
Colorado  City  to  submit  to  the  demands  of  the  mill  strikers, 
who  asked  recognition  of  the  Federation  and  increased  pay.  The 
places  of  the  eighty  or  eighty-five  men  who  went  out  having  been 
filled,  the  mill  owners  refused  to  surrender. 

Although  there  were  no  grievances  against  their  employers 
and  not  the  slightest  hope  of  forcing  their  point  at  Colorado  City, 
the  strike  of  the  miners  was  continued  against  the  advice  of  the 
conservative  element.  This  strike  was  ordered  by  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Federation,  without  referring  it  to  a  vote  of 
the  unions  directly  affected. 

Soon  after  the  strike  was  inaugurated  in  Teller  county  rough 
tactics  were  employed  by  the  bad  element.  Brawls  and  fights 
occurred  in  which  Kennison,  local  President  of  the  Federation, 
figured  prominently  with  his  revolver.  Non-union  men  were  in- 
sulted, assaulted  and  terrorized. 

The  Sheriff,  Robertson,  member  of  Miners'  Union  No.  32, 
and  holding  a  Federation  card,  offered  to  swear  in  strikers 
as  deputies,  but  gave  no  hope  of  real  protection.  He  told  the 
mine  owners  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  Federation  and  that 
his  sympathies  were  with  the  Federation.  The  El  Paso  mine 
started  up  with  a  strong  private  guard. 

September  1st,.  1903.  Intimidation:  An  attempt  to  open 
the  Golden  Cycle  mine  resulted  in  the  appearance  of  Federation 
pickets,  who  used  fists  and  guns  to  persuade  non-union  men  not 
to  go  to  work. 

September  1st,  1903.  Assault:  Justice  of  the  Peace  J.  T. 
Hawkins  was  knocked  down  from  behind  in  broad  day- 
light and  brutally  beaten  because  he  had  offended  the  Federa- 
tion in  a  decision  against  a  member  for  carrying  concealed  weapons. 

September  1st,  1903.  Attempted  murder:  Late  at  night 
a  crowd  of  Federation  miners  dragged  from  his  bed  an  old 
man  named  Stewart,  a  non-union  carpenter  engaged  in  build- 
ing a  fence  around  the  Golden  Cycle  mine;  took  him  out  into 

37 


the  dark;  beat  him  into  insensibility,  and  then  shot  him  through 
the  back,  leaving  him  for  dead.  Stewart  had  refused  to  join 
the  union.  He  recovered  after  long  suffering,  but  is  crippled 
for  life. 

September  1st,  1903.  Ed  Minster,  a  union  leader,  was  ar- 
rested for  drawing  a  gun  at  the  Golden  Cycle  mine  to  pre- 
vent a  man  from  going  to  work;  also  for  the  assaults  on 
Hawkins  and  Stewart.  The  Federation  Sheriff  let  him  go 
the  next  day  because  ''he  didn't  want  to  offend  a  whole  raft  of 
people."  Minster  is  still  a  fugitive  from  justice. 

Shots  had  been  fired  at  the  guards  at  the  El  Paso  mine. 
The  town  was  filling  up  with  desperate  characters,  assaults  con- 
tinued. The  Federation  Sheriff  refused  either  to  do  his  duty 
or  to  ask  for  the  militia.  It  was,  however,  sent  on  the  Gover- 
nor's own  responsibility  after  sending  aides  to  investigate  and 
report. 

The  commander  of  the  militia  had  been  in  the  camp  for 
years  and  knew  the  bad  characters.  He  soon  had  several  of 
the  worst  of  them  in  the  guard  house,  some  of  whom  were  re 
leased  by  habeas  corpus  proceedings. 

"Slim"  Campbell,  one  of  these  Federation  desperadoes,  bru- 
tally mjurdered  a  woman  of  the  half  world  the  night  following 
his  release.  He  was  also  allowed  to  make  his  escape  bv  the 
Sheriff. 

September  12th,  1903.  Attempt  to  kill:  Shots  were  fired 
through  window  of  E.  A.  Ferris'  house,  non-union  employe  of 
El  Paso  mine.  Had  received  threatening  letters.  No  action 
by  civil  authorities. 

September  13th,  1903.  Assault:  President  Kennison  of 
District  Union  No.  1,  Western  Federation  of  Miners,  attacked 
a  non-union  man.  Pulled  gun  but  got  the  worst  of  the  fight. 

September  14th,  1903.  Attempted  train  wrecking:  Spikes 
pulled  from  rails  in  attempt  to  throw  electric  car  down  400-foot 
embankment.  No  arrests. 

September  18th,  1903.  Intimidation:  President  Kennison 
arrested  by  soldiers  for  intimidating  non-union  men  and  imper- 
sonating deputy  sheriff. 

October  2d,  1903.  Assault:  George  Hopman  assaulted  by 
union  man  named  Cronin.  Accused  of  being  a  spy  and  badly 
beaten. 

October  19th,  1903.  Assault:  J.  Sleed  accused  of  "scab- 
bing" by  Thomas  Evans  and  was  severely  beaten  at  Anaconda. 

October  20th,  1903.  Assault:  Thomas*  Gorman,  Federation 
man,  assaulted  James  West,  shift  boss  Stratton  Independence. 

October  21st,  1903.  Attempted  murder:  Attempt  to  kill 
the  eager  on  the  Vindicator  was  discovered.  Would-be  mur- 
derer caught  in  shaft. 

28 


October  25th,  1903.  Assault:  Ed  Mason,  non-union  team- 
ster, brutally  assaulted  by  five  men,  Goldfield.  No  conviction. 

November  llth,  1903.  Attempted  train-wrecking:  At- 
tempt was  made  to  wreck  F.  &  C.  C.  train  carrying  non-union 
workmen  at  2  o'clock  a.  m.  Wrench  broke,  so  that  sufficient 
damage  was  not  committed  to  ditch  train. 

November  14th,  1903.  Second  attempt  made  to  wreck  F.  & 
C.  C.  train.  Information  of  purpose  became  known  and  Charles 
McKinney  was  apprehended  while  in  the  act.  He  turned  state's 
evidence,  stating  that  he  was  hired  by  Sherman  Parker,  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  local  Federation,  and  implicating 
one  Foster.  Parker  and  Foster  were  brought  to  trial  and  a 
strong  case  made  against  them,  but  they  produced  the  usual 
alibi  with  the  usual  result.  The  jury,  selected  by  the  Federation 
Sheriff,  promptly  brought  a  verdict  of  "not  guilty." 

ON  NOVEMBER  21,  1903,  SUPERINTENDENT  M'CORMACK  AND 
FOREMAN  BECK,  OF  THE  VINDICATOR  MINE,  WERE  BLOWN  TO 
ATOMS  BY  AN  INFERNAL  MACHINE  PLACED  IN  THE  SHAFT.  PIECES 
OF  THE  MACHINE  WERE  FOUND.  THESE  MEN  WERE  OPPOSED  TO 
THE  WESTERN  FEDERATION  OF  MINERS  AND  WERE  WORKING  NON- 
UNION MEN  AT  THE  VINDICATOR. 

Finally  all  mines  were  at  work,  peace  reigned  and  the  strike 
was  over.  The  troops  were  withdrawn,  and  the  protection  of 
the  non-union  miners  and  the  non-union  business  men  of  the 
district  was  left  with  the  civil  authorities.  The  campaign  of 
crime  of  the  Federation  appeared  for  a  time  to  have  been  aban- 
doned, but  the  worst  was  yet  to  come. 

JUNE  6,  1904,  WHOLESALE  MURDER.  ATTEMPT  MADE  AT  2  A. 
M.  WITH  AN  INFERNAL  MACHINE  TO  KILL  50  OR  60  NON-UNION  MEN 
AT  INDEPENDENCE  DEPOT.  THIRTEEN  WERE  KILLED  AND  SEV- 
ERAL OTHERS  HORRIBLY  MUTILATED  AND  MAIMED.  (SEE  LIST  ON 
PAGE  2.)  WIRE  USED  TO  CAUSE  THE  EXPLOSION  WAS  FOUND. 

SAME  DAY,  RIOT  AND  MURDER.  A  LARGE  FORCE  OF  ARMED 
FEDERATION  MEN,  STATIONED  IN  THEIR  HEADQUARTERS  BUILDING 
IN  VICTOR,  FIRED  UPON  A  CROWD  OF  PEOPLE  WHO  WERE  LISTEN- 
ING TO  A  SPEECH  ON  THE  OPPOSITE  SIDE  OF  THE  STREET,  KILLING 
TWO  NON-UNION  MEN,  DAVIS  AND  M'GEE,  AND  WOUJfDING  MANY 
MORE. 

The  rioters  surrendered  to  the  local  militia  company  after 
some  shooting  on  both  sides,  and  the  following  arms  were  taken 
from  the  Federation  headquarters: 

THIRTY-FIVE  RIFLES. 
SEVEN  SHOT  GUNS. 
THIRTY-NINE  REVOLVERS. 

Better  evidence  of  the  murderous  intentions  of  the  Federa- 
tion could  scarcely  be  desired. 


The  Federation  Sheriff,  who  had  remained  indifferent,  mak- 
ing no  effort  to  discover  the  perpetrators  of  these  outrages,  was 
deposed  from  his  office,  and  a  non-Federation  man  put  in  his 
place. 

DETERMINED  TO  END  IT. 

With  these  heartless  crimes,  the  limit  of  the  suffering  and 
of  the  patience  of  the  people  of  Teller  County  was  reached.  They 
determined  to  put  an  end  to  the  reign  of  terror  once  for  all.  The 
first  impulse  was  to  gather  the  worst  of  the  dangerous  characters 
and  hang  all  of  them.  They  adopted,  however,  the  more  humane 
policy  of  dispersing  the  bad  characters  who  had  encouraged  and 
committed  lawless  acts  and  gloried  and  gloated  over  the  crimes 
committed  against  non-union  men. 

The  Federation  agents  who  were  holding  public  office  were 
deposed.  The  bad  element  was  gathered  in.  Those  against 
whom  direct  evidence  of  lawlessness  was  had,  were  held  for  the 
action  of  the  civil  authorities.  Others  to  the  number  of  about 
180,  known  to  be  dangerous  characters,  who  were  keeping  alive 
the  outlawry,  were  taken  beyond  the  borders  of  the  county  and 
scattered. 

In  following  out  this  programme  of  cleaning  the  district  of 
the  criminal  element,  soldiers  were  sent  to  Dunnville  to  capture 
some  armed  strikers  who  were  entrenched  in  the  hills.  On  the  ap- 
proach of  the  soldiers  the  Federation  men  fired  upon  them.  The 
militia  returned  the  fire,  and  one  of  the  Federation  men  was 
killed.  This  was  the  first  and  only  Federation  man  killed  or  in- 
jured by  the  militia  during  the  ten  months  of  the  labor  troubles 
in  this  district. 

FORBEARANCE  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

The  above  brief  recital  of  crimes,  outrages  and  conspira- 
cies shows  clearly  the  conditions  which  moved  the  people  of 
San  Miguel  and  Teller  Counties  to  rise  and  declare  that  there 
was  no  room  in  their  communities  for  this  organization,  which 
was  a  menace  to  the  life  of  every  man  who  had  the  temerity  to 
take  his  dinner  bucket  and  go  to  work. 

Do  those  who  think  the  Federation  was  treateof  badly  know 
what  it  is  to  live  with  "life,  liberty  and  property"  in  constant 
peril?  Do  they  know  what  it  is  to  be  marked  for  death,  and  to 
live  in  constant  fear  of  assassination?  Have  any  of  them  had  to 
pass  over  a  lonely  trail  night  after  night,  going  to  and  from 
their  work,  feeling  that  an  assassin  was  lurking  behind  every 
tree  or  rock?  If  so,  have  they  ever  met  an  entertaining  com- 
mittee of  the  Western  Federation  of  Miners  while  on  such  a 

30 


trip?  And  if  so,  after  they  had  been  "entertained,"  did  they 
ever  go  to  the  Sheriff's  office  and  complain  of  being  assaulted 
and  find  that  the  Sheriff  was  in  full  sympathy  with  the  thugs 
who  did  the  entertaining?  If  they  have  done  these  things,  they 
know  something  of  the  sentiment  prevailing  in  Teller  County 
and  particularly  among  the  4,000  non-union  workmen  before  and 
after  their  comrades  were  slaughtered  at  the  Independence  depot 
platform. 

The  right  of  self-defense  is  older  than  all  written  law,  and 
it  is  this  right  on  which  the  people  of  these  counties  stand.  In 
exercising  this  right  they  have  acted  with  commendable  mod- 
eration, never  departing  from  the  necessities  of  their  own  defense 
to  satisfy  any  spirit  of  revenge  which  may  have  been  aroused  by 
the  enormity  of  the  crimes  which  had  been  committed  against 
their  fellows. 


THE  FEDERATION'S  RESPONSIBILITY. 

How  can  any  fair-minded  union  man  contemplate  this  list 
of  crimes  and  still  endorse  this  lawless  organization?  What 
patriotic,  law-abiding  citizen  can  approve  of  the  speech  of  Presi- 
dent Boyce  at  Salt  Lake, 'in  which  he  appealed  to  his  followers  to 
arm  themselves  with  rifles  and  be  prepared  to  fight  the  battles 
of  the  Federation?  How  can  he  approve  of  an  organization  that 
will  folloic  this  advice,  purchase  arms  and  send  armed  bodies  out 
to  kill  and  destroy  and  to  attack  the  officers  of  the  land? 

How  can  he  view  with  indifference  the  paragraph  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  Federation,  which  says: 

"We  declare  more  especially  our  object  to  be:    .   .   . 

"Ninth.  To  demand  the  repeal  of  conspiracy  laws 
that  in  any  way  abridge  the  right  of  labor  organiza- 
tions to  promote  the  general  welfare  of  their  member- 
ship." 

What  objection  can  a  law-abiding  organization  have  to  con- 
spiracy laws,  unless  it  wishes  to  engage  in  conspiracy  unham- 
pered? What  has  a  law-respecting,  peaceable  American  citizen 
in  common  with  an  organization  that  will  put  out  the  following 
official  invitation  to  commit  crime: 

"But  the  time  for  proclaiming  peace  when  there 
can  be  no  peace  has  passed  away,  and  the  hour  for  he- 
roic action  has  come,"  etc.,  etc. 

"We  will  now  recommend  to  the  Twelfth  Annual 
Convention,  which  meets  in  the  city  of  Denver  on  May 
23rd,  1904,  that  such  steps  should  be  taken  as  will  nerve 
the  arm  and  fire  the  brain  of  the  great  labor  army  of 

31 


America  to  rise  as  a  unit  and  demand  that  the  monster 
of  despotism  shall  not  live  upon  the  soil  of  a  free  re- 
public."— From  an  Appeal  of  the  Executive  Committee, 
Western  Federation  of  Miners. 

The  "arm  was  nerved"  and  the  "Drain  was  fired"  and  the  time 
for  "heroic  action"  came  just  seventeen  days  after  this  appeal  to 
the  violent  was  issued,  when  the  misguided  followers  of  this 
most  dangerous  organization  wantonly  murdered  thirteen  non- 
union men  at  Independence,  and  two  at  Victor,  where  nearly  100 
firearms  were  taken  from  the  Federation  assassins  who  had  been 
firing  from  the  Federation  headquarters. 

Such  is  the  partial  criminal  record  of  the  Western  Federa- 
tion of  Miners,  the  Socialist  organization  whose  leaders  are  now 
trying  to  secure  control  of  the  government  of  Colorado,  and  in 
spite  of  whom  order  and  security  for  life  and  property  has  been 
restored  in  the  mining  camps  of  the  state. 

July,  1904. 


IN  TIMES  OF  TURBULENCE 

•In  times  of  turbulence  and  violence, 
when  there  is  a  probability  of  mob 
rule  in  the  country,  there  is  a  discre- 
n  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  to 
hold  prisoners  without  bail,  and  there 
is  a  reasonable  discretion  which  may 
be  exercised  in  all  cases  in  which 
criminal  charges  may  be  preferred  to 
hold  the  prisoner  in  custody  until 
reasonable  investigation  may  be  made 
to  ascertain  whether  he  has  committed 
an  offense  against  the  law.  Whether 
this  shall  be  done  by  the  regular  au- 
thorized officers  in  the  administration 
of  criminal  law,  by  the  sheriff  and 
by  the  district  attorney,  or  by  the 
militia,  is  a  matter  in  the  discretion 
of  officers  of  the  State." 

om  decision  of  Judge  Hallett,  U.  S.  District  Court, 
ihe  Parker  Habeas  Corpus  Case. 


A    000  057  609     0 


